Brother
by starzee
Summary: The other Salvatore brother, Dante, comes to town and makes friends with the resident blonde. Dante can't help pushing his older brother to go after her...
1. Chapter 1

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

**A/N: I started writing this after the episode where Elena tells Damon they're going to let Stefan go so none of the episodes after that happened. It's AU.**

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><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 1

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><p>It was an average evening in the Grill. Damon was at the bar with Ric. Stefan was in a booth with Elena, Caroline and Bonnie. It was two months after senior year finished and everything had been normal for months. Too normal.<p>

The door to the Grill opened and Stefan happened to look... his eyes widened to saucers and his jaw dropped.

"Oh no." Stefan muttered then the other three looked to see a _gorgeous _guy walk in the door. He had dark brown hair and ocean blue eyes, a sculpted jaw and the girls all thought he was ridiculously hot. He looked to the bar then smirked. He wandered up and slapped Damon on the back of the head which _shocked _the three girls so much that their jaws fell open. They couldn't believe _anyone _would ever have the balls to slap Damon like that. Damon turned around with a glare which then turned into a devious grin. He hopped off his bar stool and the two guys hugged.

"Who is _that_?" Caroline asked.

"That's... my _other _brother." Stefan said and their jaws dropped.

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><p>"Ric, this is, Dante." Damon smirked and Ric looked surprised. He'd heard about the other brother from Damon before.<p>

"Nice to meet you, Ric." Dante shook Ric's hand.

"You too, Dante." Ric replied.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked amused.

"Got bored of waiting for you to ditch this pathetic town so I figured I'd swing by and see what the big deal is." Dante replied amused and Damon chuckled.

"Awesome. I missed you." Damon said with a smirk.

"I missed you too, bro." Dante flashed a cheeky smile. "So where's the whiney baby bro?" He asked and Damon chuckled and pointed. Dante looked over his shoulder only to find Stefan with a stony expression. "Why's rat blood got all the chicks?" Dante asked and Damon laughed.

"Don't you think you should go give him a big brotherly hug?" Damon teased and Dante smirked.

"Of course." He said deviously and Damon chuckled. "Then can we ditch this bar and party?" He asked.

"Obviously." Damon said amused. The two of them walked over to the table after saying bye to Ric and Stefan didn't look happy at all.

"Dante." Stefan said and Dante smirked then ruffled his hair which visibly annoyed Stefan.

"Baby bro. I see you're back to your boring rat blood self. Heard you fell off the wagon again." Dante said amused and Stefan shot Damon an annoyed look.

"Why are you here?" Stefan asked him annoyed.

"Because I obviously just missed you lots and lots, Stefan." Dante teased and Stefan deadpanned while Damon chuckled.

"Lighten up, Saint Stefan." Damon said amused.

"Ripper Stefan is so much more fun. You should bring him back." Dante said amused and Damon smirked while Stefan glared at Dante. "Anyway." Dante said then looked at the three girls. "You must be the judgy witch, Katherine 2.0 and Vampire Barbie." He said and Elena and Bonnie glared at Damon for telling him that. "Damon said you were hot, Caroline, but he failed to mention exactly _how _hot." He smirked and Caroline looked surprised.

"Dante, please just leave." Stefan glared at him.

"Aww, are you afraid your secrets will come out?" Dante asked amused and Damon chuckled.

"He always is." Damon said amused. "Do you want to hear something funny?" He asked Dante who chuckled.

"Always." He nodded.

"When Stefan went all Ripper Stefan again, Elena said 'that's not Stefan'." Damon said amused and Dante laughed loudly which made Stefan glare at both of them.

"That's hilarious." Dante said amused.

"Why's that hilarious?" Elena asked confused and both Damon and Dante chuckled.

"Ask rat blood how I turned." Dante said to her with a smirk. "I'm sure _his_ answer will be very watered down." He said amused and Damon nudged him.

"Anyway, let's go party." Damon said amused.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Caroline." Dante winked at her and she couldn't help a small smile at the fact he was completely ignoring the other two girls and focusing his attention on her. "See you at home, Stefan, sweetheart." Dante teased and Stefan scowled then Damon and Dante left the Grill.

"That was a blast from the past." Bonnie said shocked.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked confused.

"He acted just like Damon when Damon first showed up here." Bonnie said and Stefan nodded.

"He's just like that. The two of them have practically been inseparable since we turned." Stefan muttered.

"How don't we know about him?" Elena asked Stefan annoyed.

"I was hoping if I never brought him up, Damon wouldn't call him to come here." Stefan muttered.

"He can't be killing people here, Stef." Bonnie warned.

"It might not look like it, but Dante will do whatever Damon does. So if Damon doesn't kill people, neither will Dante." Stefan said and they all looked surprised.

"Is Dante older than Damon?" Caroline asked curiously.

"No, Damon's a year older than him." Stefan replied.

"Why was he nice to Caroline but mean to us?" Elena asked and Stefan sighed.

"Because Damon likes Caroline." Stefan replied and they looked confused.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked sceptically.

"As in he _likes _you." Stefan said and her jaw dropped as did Bonnie and Elena's.

"What?" She asked confused.

"Yeah, but don't tell him I told you that. He'll be pissed and with Dante around it's going to be hell anyway so I don't need Damon adding to it." Stefan muttered.

"Are you joking?" Caroline asked him in disbelief.

"No, he's liked you for months and months." Stefan replied and they all looked shocked again. "Since you kicked his ass when he bit your dad." He said and her jaw dropped.

"That's like almost a year ago!" Caroline said shocked.

"Mmm." Stefan nodded.

"Why hasn't he said anything?" Bonnie asked confused.

"It's not like I sit and talk to him about it. I just know my brother and his whole attitude towards Caroline changed after that." Stefan said.

"Why do you _think _he hasn't said anything?" Bonnie asked.

"Probably because he feels guilty about when they first met and he thinks Caroline would never go there again." Stefan shrugged.

"You think he feels guilty for that?" Caroline asked surprised.

"He was really wasted a couple of months ago and I asked him if he regretted anything and he said his three big regrets in life were what he did to Caroline, losing me and snapping Ric's neck." Stefan said and they looked shocked.

"Dante was nice to Ric too though. He shook Ric's hand." Elena said confused.

"Well, yeah, Ric's Damon's friend." Stefan nodded. "Dante will like anyone Damon likes but on the other hand he'll also dislike anyone Damon dislikes." He said.

"Really?" Bonnie asked confused.

"Yeah, but Damon's the same. They have the same taste in practically everything so if Dante makes a friend, Damon will like them too. They're just like that." Stefan said and Caroline chuckled.

"You're jealous." Caroline said with a small smirk and Bonnie and Elena looked at Stefan in curiosity.

"Well, yeah, obviously. My two older brothers totally love each other more than anything and spend time together and trust each other... and they both don't like _me_. Of course I'm jealous." Stefan muttered. Before the girls could reply Damon came back into the Grill and walked over to their booth.

"I'll make sure he doesn't give you _too_ hard a time, okay?" Damon asked Stefan who looked visibly surprised.

"Really?" Stefan asked confused and surprised and Damon smirked.

"You're the permanent annoyance in my life but I do still love you, if you remember. I'll have a little chat with him and get him to ease up a bit." Damon said then turned on his heel and left the Grill again and Stefan looked stunned.

"So much for Damon not liking you, Stefan." Caroline said amused and Stefan looked stunned.

"He just... He just told me he loves me." Stefan said in disbelief. "He hasn't told me that since we were human." He said in true shock.

"Well, it's obvious to everyone else." Bonnie said amused.

"But he teased you when Dante came over." Elena said confused.

"Damon will tease me _forever _but I guess the difference is that his is just teasing whereas Dante actually really doesn't like me." Stefan said sceptically as he tried to process the fact that Damon was going to stick up for _him_ to _Dante_.

"But why doesn't Dante like you?" Caroline asked confused and Stefan sighed.

"I... uh... killed his wife and him." Stefan said and they looked surprised. "Damon happened to catch me though and he managed to get his blood down Dante's throat seconds before he died. That's how he turned." Stefan said ashamed and they could all see how guilty he felt. "Another one of the reasons Damon hated me for so long is because Dante loved his wife _so much _and Damon thought Dante would get his happy ending with her... but obviously, I ruined that." He said.

"So was he like Damon over the years? Did he do things to get back at you?" Elena asked and Stefan sighed.

"No. The difference between them is that Damon did things because he was hurt and I think he thought that annoying me was a good cover for the fact that he still wanted me around. Dante has never done anything to me other than say things because he wants nothing to do with me." Stefan said and they looked surprised.

"What do you mean by say things?" Elena asked.

"Just like there." Stefan said.

"That's it?" Caroline asked surprised and Stefan nodded.

"He wants me to live forever with the knowledge that I killed the love of his life but he never did _anything _to me." Stefan said guiltily. "He knows it's worse that way." He muttered.

"Why did you do it?" Elena asked him and Stefan looked ashamed.

"Damon left me and I didn't want to be alone so I went to him and asked him to turn and he said no because of his wife so I killed his wife so he couldn't use that as an excuse." Stefan admitted. "Then he said he'd rather die than be stuck with me forever so I drained him and Damon caught me just before his heart stopped. Damon fed him blood in the hopes it would heal him _not _so he would turn." Stefan said. "But he _did _turn and Damon told him that he hated me so Dante then chose to transition so Damon wouldn't be stuck with me alone forever." He explained.

"I have to admit, Stefan, I can see why Dante doesn't want to be close with you." Elena said.

"I know." Stefan agreed.

"But I also think that you had your humanity turned off and it was nearly a century and a half ago and hating your brother forever just seems really exhausting." Elena said surprising Stefan.

"But he still loves her after nearly a century and a half." Stefan said. "Dante loved her from like the age of eight years old. He always knew he would marry her. The day he married her was the happiest day of his life. I deserve him hating me forever." Stefan said.

"Will he stay here long?" Bonnie asked.

"No, he never stays around me for long. He's only here to talk Damon into leaving with him." Stefan said and the three of them looked surprised.

"Could he talk Damon into leaving?" Elena asked curiously.

"Easily." Stefan nodded.

"Why?" Bonnie asked confused.

"Well, think about it from his perspective, he has one human friend who probably would never turn so Damon won't sit around and watch him die, he likes a girl that he won't go after and he's been around me for nearly two years. I'm probably seriously irritating him now. The threats are gone so he doesn't have to protect anyone anymore. So it's staying for all of that or leaving with his best friend and having fun all over the world." Stefan said.

"I guess." Bonnie nodded in understanding.

"What do you mean he has _one _friend? What about me?" Elena asked and Stefan shot her a look.

"Is your mind blocking the time he told you he wants nothing to do with you?" Stefan asked her sceptically and she glared at him.

"That was just a fight." Elena said.

"So how many times has he spoken to you first in the last six months?" Stefan asked her and she scowled at him.

"Well... none." She said and he nodded.

"So why would you think he'd care?" Stefan asked curiously.

"You don't have to be mean about it." Elena muttered.

"I'm not being mean." Stefan said.

"Stop with the dramatics, Elena." Bonnie said and Elena huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms over her chest.

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><p>A few hours later, Caroline wandered into the boarding house and found Damon and Dante in the living room with glasses of bourbon.<p>

"Evening, Caroline." Dante winked at her.

"Hey." She smiled at both of them.

"What's up?" Damon asked her.

"I'm going for a blood run and you didn't pick up your phone so do you want any?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, can you get some extras since Dante's here and I'll do the next run?" Damon asked her.

"Sure, that's fine." Caroline nodded.

"Stay for a drink." Dante said with a smile surprising her.

"You want bourbon or a girly cocktail?" Damon smirked and she chuckled.

"Bourbon's fine." Caroline smiled and Dante smirked at her for her drink choice while Damon grabbed another glass then poured her a drink and she went and sat down next to Dante on the couch. "Thanks." She said to Damon when he gave her the drink then he went and sat down in the recliner again. "So, Dante, where were you before here?" She asked him and he smiled.

"I was staying with a friend in South Africa, actually." He said.

"That's cool." She smiled. "What were you doing there?" She asked.

"He runs an animal sanctuary so I was helping out with that." He said and she looked surprised.

"What kind of animal sanctuary?" She asked.

"It's like a rehabilitation place for wild animals that are orphaned or injured." He said. "He's human so it's easy for me to go in with the aggressive ones like lions and stuff." He smirked and she chuckled.

"That sounds like fun though. Think you'll go back?" She asked.

"I was just in the middle of trying to talk Damon into coming back with me." He smirked.

"Stefan said you'd try and get him to leave." Caroline agreed with a cheeky smile and they both laughed.

"What else did rat blood say?" Dante asked amused.

"The no doubt watered down story." She replied using his words and he chuckled.

"I like her." Dante said to Damon who shot him an amused look.

"Are you thinking about it?" Caroline asked Damon who shrugged.

"Africa isn't exactly my first choice for relocation but I'd leave, yeah." He nodded.

"I'd go to Africa." Caroline said to Dante amused and the brothers laughed.

"Really?" He asked amused and she giggled.

"What the hell else am I going to do? My closest friend is human and she's off to boring college in a couple of months with Elena and I so don't feel like tagging along for that." She said and they laughed.

"What's Stefan doing?" Dante asked her and she shrugged.

"No idea." She replied and he looked surprised.

"Aren't you friends?" He asked her.

"No, not really." Caroline replied.

"Why not?" He asked amused.

"He annoys me." She replied and they both laughed. "That and when I first turned he made me hunt a bunny so I'm scarred for life." She said and they laughed loudly.

"When he turned his humanity back on he tried to force animal blood down her throat again and she punched him." Damon said to Dante amused and Dante laughed.

"That's awesome." Dante winked at her and she giggled.

"He was killing everything in sight before that so his hypocritical ass deserved it." Caroline said and they laughed.

"He'd freak out if he knew you were talking to me." Dante said to her with a smirk and Caroline chuckled.

"What's he going to do? Brood at me to death?" She asked and they laughed.

"Go pack." Dante said to her.

"Why's that?" She giggled.

"I am _definitely _taking you to Africa." He smiled and she and Damon laughed.

"You sure about that? Damon says I talk more than he can listen." Caroline smirked and Damon rolled his eyes while Dante just laughed.

"Yeah but I'm not anti-social like my dear older brother so I don't mind if you talk my ear off." He winked at her and she giggled. She had to admit, she really liked Dante. He seemed awesome.

"Oh, well in that case, when's the flight?" Caroline asked and they laughed.

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><p>Caroline hung out with them for over an hour then she left to go do the blood run. Once she was gone, Dante shot Damon an amused look.<p>

"I see why you like her. She's amazing." Dante smirked at him and Damon rolled his eyes.

"She can't go to Africa, Dant." Damon said and Dante looked confused.

"Why not?" Dante asked. "She's awesome. I want to be friends with her." He said.

"Because then she'll be there all the time." Damon said.

"So what?" Dante asked still confused.

"You already know that I'll go with you. I can't be around her all the time and _not _have her." Damon said and Dante sighed.

"So tell her you like her." Dante said like it was totally obvious and Damon shot him an annoyed look.

"Like she'd ever go there with me again." Damon said dryly.

"You won't know until you try." Dante pointed out and Damon scowled at him.

"Why don't you try your own advice before dishing it out?" He asked annoyed.

"And what does that mean, Damon?" Dante sighed.

"It_ means _that you need to move on, Dante." Damon said.

"I can't." Dante said sadly.

"No, you just _won't_. There's a difference. You don't have to ever stop loving her, bro, but you can't just be alone forever either." Damon said.

"And how am I supposed to just _move on_?" Dante asked him.

"Because if there was one thing that Grace always wanted, it was for you to be happy. She wouldn't want you to just be alone pining after her." Damon said. "If all the Katherine crap taught me anything it's that I _want _to be with someone. When you married Grace, you promised her a lifetime... you've given her nearly three lifetimes." He pointed out. "Nobody will ever replace Grace for you and I'm not saying you should try to replace her... but you _could _find some nice girl and love her too." He said.

"How would I even start that, Damon? I'm not saying _no _but I... the longest I've been with someone since I turned was like a week. It's always just sex." He said and Damon nodded.

"You know I love you and I'd do anything for you... but I'm just as terrible at this stuff as you are so you know who you should talk to for advice?" Damon asked and Dante chuckled.

"Caroline?" He asked amused and Damon smirked.

"Mmhmm." He nodded. "She's kind of annoying and ditsy but I don't think I've ever met anyone with such a heart of gold." Damon admitted and Dante chuckled.

"Wow. You _really _like her, huh?" Dante said amused and Damon rolled his eyes.

"She's trustworthy too. She could help you in that department." Damon said ignoring his brother.

"I'll think about it." Dante agreed. "I'll try if you will." He smirked and Damon shot him a look.

"Meaning?" He asked.

"Meaning if she hated you as much as you think she does, she would never sit and talk and laugh with us the way she did. Stefan no doubt said that I'm just like you but she still stayed. I think you're just being dramatic." Dante said as he took a sip and Damon rolled his eyes _again_.

"It's not like I can just go ask her out." Damon said dryly.

"So why don't we take her out clubbing? I want to get to know her better anyway. Then once we're all drunk just kiss her or something and see what happens. Then if it doesn't go your way, just blame the booze." Dante smirked and Damon chuckled.

"I'll think about it." Damon replied amused and Dante chuckled.

"Cool. Let's go out." Dante said.

"Alright." Damon nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own The Vampire Diaries, I'm just a fan :)

**A/N: Check out 'Love Isn't Always Fair' by Nikki-Chaos and send her love and reviews!**

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><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 2

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><p>Caroline was at lunch the following day with Bonnie, Stefan and Elena when her phone rang. She didn't recognise the number but she answered anyway.<p>

"Hello?" She asked curiously.

"_Hey, it's Dante._" He said and she smiled.

"Hey! How are you?" She asked happily and Stefan was gaping at her.

"_I'm bored. Damon has a council meeting soon. Was just calling to see if you want to do something this afternoon?_" He asked.

"Sure. I'm free in about an hour. I'll pick you up." She smiled.

"_Cool, I'll wait at the boarding house._" He said.

"Great, see you then." She said.

"_See you then, Caroline._" He said and she could tell he was happy about it then she hung up.

"Who was that?" Bonnie asked confused.

"Dante!" Stefan exclaimed in disbelief and Elena and Bonnie's jaws dropped.

"What?" Caroline asked them confused.

"You're hanging out with Dante?" Elena asked confused.

"Yeah, I hung out with him and Damon for a while last night and he was awesome to me so why not?" She asked and they all looked shocked.

"How did you hang out with them?" Stefan asked confused.

"I was going for a blood run and Damon didn't answer his phone so I dropped by to ask if he needed any like I always do when it's my turn and Dante asked me to stay for a drink and we totally hit it off. He's great." She smiled.

"He's great." Stefan said to her dryly.

"Well, yeah, he _is_." Caroline said. "He was really nice and funny so I'd like to get to know him better." She shrugged.

"What did he say about me?" Stefan asked deadpan.

"You want the truth?" Caroline asked and he nodded. "He didn't say a single bad thing about you at all." She said and Stefan looked surprised.

"Well... what did he say that makes you want to get to know him?" Stefan asked confused and she shrugged.

"Lots of things. He's interesting and nice and I'm sure we'll have fun later when I hang out with him." She said. She said that so Stefan had no doubt that she was going whether he liked it or not.

"Are you trying to make Damon jealous?" Elena asked her annoyed and Caroline laughed in disbelief while Stefan and Bonnie shot Elena a look for that.

"No, I'll leave the brothers thing to you, Elena." Caroline said with a smirk and Elena's jaw dropped while Stefan and Bonnie tried not to laugh at Caroline being so blunt.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena asked furiously.

"You're joking, right? First you're all 'oh it'll always be Stefan' then you're stupid enough to tell _Damon _to let Stefan go – like he'd ever do that – then Damon cuts you off for that then you're all 'I love you, Damon' and he tells you to fuck off. What do you think I mean?" Caroline asked her dryly.

"That's _not _what happened." Elena said through gritted teeth.

"That's how I remember it happening." Bonnie nodded in agreement and Elena looked horrified.

"So does that mean you're going after Damon?" Elena asked her annoyed and Caroline chuckled.

"No, Elena. All it means is I'm hanging out with Dante because he was nice to me and he seems like someone I could be friends with. But since you are just _so _pleasant as always, I think I'll go _now_." Caroline said then pulled out money and put it on the table then left.

"Do you seriously still think you have a shot with Damon?" Bonnie asked Elena amused and Stefan chuckled.

"I don't get why he's so mad at me. You're still friends with me." Elena pointed out to Stefan and he shrugged.

"You're my girlfriend's best friend. I'd rather not cause any more drama." Stefan replied.

"Wait – so you wouldn't be friends with me if you weren't dating Bonnie?" Elena asked annoyed.

"I didn't say that." Stefan said tiredly. "Can we all just stop arguing all the time?" He asked annoyed.

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><p>Caroline wandered into the boarding house and found Dante reading. He looked up and smiled at her.<p>

"Hey, was that really an hour?" He teased and she giggled.

"No, I was at lunch at the Grill and Elena and Stefan started their usual crap so I ditched them." She said and he laughed.

"Worked out well for me though." He smirked and she chuckled.

"Me too." She teased and he laughed. "What do you feel like doing?" She asked and he shrugged.

"What _is _there to do?" He asked sceptically and she chuckled.

"Not much in all honestly." She replied and he smirked. "There's the arcade, the movies, the bowling alley, the mall, the go kart track or my personal favourite, the all day happy hour cocktail bar on the outskirts." She said and he chuckled.

"How about getting smashed on cocktails then maybe some of the others will be more appealing?" He teased and she laughed.

"Sounds good." She smiled and he chuckled then dumped his book on the couch and grabbed his jacket.

"Shall we then, Miss Forbes?" He asked.

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><p>"So can I ask a totally nosy question?" Caroline asked after her ninth cocktail and Dante chuckled.<p>

"Sure." He said amused.

"Stefan said that you and Damon are best friends and have been inseparable for most of the time since you turned." Caroline said and he nodded.

"Pretty much." He agreed and she chuckled.

"Then how is it that you are so nice and fun and Damon is so... _Damon_." She said and he laughed.

"You mean he's an old grumpy git who gets annoyed by everything and everyone?" He asked and she giggled.

"Yeah, basically." She nodded and he chuckled.

"This might be hard to believe considering I know Damon has been kind of... well... _terrible _since he came to Mystic Falls again..." Dante smirked and she chuckled and nodded for him to continue. "But Damon's actually _really _sensitive." He said and Caroline looked shocked. "He gets hurt really easily and obviously that got magnified as a vampire so it's beyond difficult to get Damon's trust because he thinks _everyone _will hurt him eventually." He explained.

"Why?" She asked confused.

"You have to remember the time we came from. Back then, if you couldn't trust anyone else, you could always trust your brother. Always. Even our father who hated everyone and didn't trust _anyone_ trusted his brother unconditionally. That's just how men were brought up then. So the fact that _Stefan _of all people betrayed not only Damon but me too, made all of that with Damon way worse. Damon thinks if Stefan could do those things to us, then anyone could and would fuck him over too so he doesn't give them the chance to. He sometimes can't help liking someone and letting them in a little bit then as soon as he realises that he's done that he pushes them away extra hard. He would rather have everyone hate him than take the chance of letting someone be important to him for them just to screw him over. The only people Damon has ever completely and blindly trusted are me and Stefan. And Stefan has made Damon regret that on so many occasions." Dante said sadly.

"But he still trusts you like that, doesn't he?" Caroline asked and Dante nodded.

"But Damon knows that I would rather burn in the sun than break his trust or lose him. He's the most amazing and important person I've ever had in my life and nothing would ever be worth losing him over." Dante said sincerely and Caroline smiled.

"That's nice that you have that with each other though. It must make everything else easier." She said and he saw the twinge of sadness in her eyes.

"You've been screwed over a lot too, haven't you?" Dante asked and she shrugged.

"In a lot of small ways that just built up... But I would love nothing more than having someone I could trust like that. Someone that would be there no matter what I do. Someone I could literally tell anything to and it wouldn't change how they felt about me." She said.

"Damon and I are lucky that we have that with each other. Isn't Bonnie your best friend though?" He asked her and she nodded.

"Yes, but I couldn't tell Bonnie everything. Bonnie wouldn't be there for me unconditionally. And honestly? I'm kind of angry at Bonnie to tell you the truth." She said.

"Why?" He asked her softly.

"When I turned, Bonnie recoiled from me. She wanted nothing to do with me _just _because I became a vampire. I accidentally killed someone the day I turned because I couldn't stop myself and although I do feel bad about that, Bonnie has never let me forget that I did that... _but_ then she goes and starts dating Stefan who this time last year was _literally _ripping lots of people into pieces which is so much worse than anything I ever did... I just..." She shook her head and Dante nodded in understanding.

"She's hypocritical. Has one set of rules for you and another set for everyone else." He said.

"Yeah, exactly." She said surprised that he got exactly what she was trying to say.

"Damon's mentioned that about her." He agreed and Caroline looked surprised. "Damon _was _terrible when he turned up here but after that he went into protective mode and at least _tried _to help. He's not very good at all of that so he made mistakes but Bonnie still sees Damon as the monstrous one out of him and Stefan. That's why Damon doesn't like her." Dante said and Caroline nodded.

"Exactly... it's just unfair." Caroline said and Dante sighed.

"That's the thing about vampires being friends with humans though... they're never going to understand. They can't help being so human about everything. Bonnie just doesn't like Damon as a person but she _does _like Stefan so she finds Stefan's actions forgivable but not Damon's. On a piece of paper obviously Stefan would look worse but humans don't see it that way." He said.

"I think I totally love you, you know." She said and he chuckled.

"The feeling's mutual. I think you and I will be great friends." He smiled and she grinned back at him.

"I'd like that." She said happily.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Dante and Caroline were <em>wasted <em>since they'd been drinking together for almost eight hours and they decided they wanted to go play pool at the Grill. Dante thought Caroline was awesome and Caroline kind of already wanted Dante to be her best friend forever. They just clicked so well and had so much fun together. Dante would never in a million years see her as anything _other _than a friend because of Damon and Caroline didn't see him that way either... but they both were so enjoying each other's company.

They wandered into the Grill and Caroline had her arm linked through his and the two of them were stumbling and laughing and neither looked around when they got there, they just went straight up to the pool table. They didn't notice Stefan, Bonnie and Elena gaping at them. Stefan hadn't seen Dante laughing like that since he was human so he was shocked. Damon was at the bar and he chuckled at the sight of them because he could tell his brother was _wasted_. Elena and Bonnie were surprised to see that Damon didn't look even a tiny bit jealous, he just looked amused.

Caroline and Dante started playing a game and half way through the game Caroline aimed and missed and the pool cue hit the back of the pool table and with her enhanced strength it broke both the pool table and the cue and she and Dante buckled over into hysterical laughter that the _entire _Grill heard. Stefan, Elena and Bonnie were shocked at how much fun the two of them were clearly having together. Damon looked over and saw the broken pool table and he was shaking with laughter too at the sight of it. He got up and wandered over and Caroline and Dante were literally holding each other up so they wouldn't fall over from laughing so much.

"What the hell happened?" Damon chuckled.

"Caroline missed and took it out on the table." Dante laughed and Damon laughed at that too.

"It was an accident." She giggled loudly. "Vampires playing pool drunk probably isn't the best way to stay incognito." She said and Dante was back to laughing loudly.

"You could just try to not miss next time." Dante teased and Damon laughed at Caroline's annoyed look she shot Dante.

"How the hell am I going to explain this?" Caroline giggled and they laughed.

"Just say it wasn't you." Dante said and she laughed.

"That might have worked if everyone didn't see us playing it." She giggled.

"Are they on vervain?" Dante chuckled.

"The whole town is on vervain. You can thank your brother for that." Caroline smirked and Dante laughed while Damon rolled his eyes amused.

"Well in that case, let's just take off and leave Mr Head of the Council to deal with it." Dante said and Caroline laughed and grabbed her bag and jacket which had Dante in stitches.

"Good luck with that, Damon." Caroline giggled then Dante grabbed her arm and the two of them ran out of the Grill together. Damon thought it was hilarious so he was laughing at the _gall _of her. Bonnie, Elena and Stefan's jaws dropped at Caroline and Dante just fleeing the scene and leaving Damon to deal with it.

"What the hell happened?" The manager of the Grill then yelled at Damon who was the only one standing next to the pool table and he chuckled.

"I'm so getting them back for this." He said to himself amused. "Well, you see, it was an accident..."

* * *

><p>"For a guy you're so bad at this!" Damon heard Caroline exclaim with a giggle as soon as he walked in the door of the boarding house a short while later and that had him amused.<p>

"I've never played it before!" Dante exclaimed back and Damon wandered in and laughed at the sight. The two of them were in the living room playing Wii Bowling in their pyjamas and they were still swaying about because they were still so drunk.

"How is that possible? They have Wii's in Africa!" Caroline said and Damon laughed loudly at that.

"Thank you both so much for ditching me just as the manager came to yell at me, by the way." Damon said to them and they laughed.

"You're welcome, bro." Dante replied amused and Damon chuckled.

"Why are you both in pyjamas?" Damon asked highly amused.

"We're having a sleepover." Caroline replied and Damon laughed.

"Is that so?" Damon asked amused.

"Yep. You've been replaced. She's my new BFF." Dante said and Damon laughed.

"That hurts me right here." Damon said dramatically covering his heart and they laughed.

"Why don't you just go put yours on and join in?" Caroline suggested with a giggle and Dante laughed.

"He's a grumpy old git, Caroline, he's too cool for stuff like that." Dante said amused and she giggled.

"I'm not a grumpy old git." Damon defended.

"Yeah, you so are." Dante teased.

"Fine, maybe I _will_ join in then." Damon said with a smirk.

"Believe it when I see it." Dante smirked back and Damon chuckled then disappeared upstairs in a blink. Dante leaned over to whisper in Caroline's ear. "Best way to get him to do anything is say that he can't or won't do it." He said and she giggled at Dante totally manipulating Damon.

"I'll keep that in mind." She winked at him and he laughed.

* * *

><p>Damon appeared back downstairs about a minute later wearing black pyjama bottoms and a grey t-shirt.<p>

"Happy?" Damon asked his brother who chuckled.

"I will be when I kick your ass at this." Dante said holding out a Wii controller to Damon and Damon smirked as he took it.

"Even _I've _played Wii Bowling before. You won't beat me." Damon teased and they laughed.

"I'm playing the winner." Caroline said as she sat down on the couch with her makeshift cocktail and watched the two of them amused.

* * *

><p>Just over an hour later, Damon and Dante were playing Wii Tennis and Damon won. He turned to Caroline then since she was supposed to be playing the winner and saw that she'd dozed off on the couch.<p>

"Take her upstairs." Dante whispered quietly to Damon with a smirk and Damon chuckled and rolled his eyes. He walked over to the couch and picked her up and she sleepily put her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder and Damon was kind of surprised at that. Dante shot him an amused look for that but Damon ignored him and carried her up to the room she sometimes crashed in if she stayed at the boarding house. Caroline stirred a little just as Damon was opening her door and her stomach fluttered a little at the fact he was carrying her up to her bed.

"Sorry." She whispered sleepily and he looked down at her and saw that she was half awake and he smirked.

"That's alright. I was born in the 1800s, remember? Carrying damsels around is sort of ingrained." He teased and she giggled sleepily at him saying something like that. He pulled back her cover and set her down on the bed then pulled it up over her.

"Damon?" She asked softly and he perched on the edge of the bed and looked at her. She leaned up and kissed him then pulled back to see his reaction and he looked really surprised.

"What was that for?" He asked confused.

"Is blabbermouth Stefan right?" She asked him softly and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"About?" He asked.

"He said you like me." She said to him and he looked surprised.

"Oh." Was all he said and she saw that he suddenly looked kind of nervous and like he was dying to just bolt out the door. She sat up properly and he just watched her intently. She leaned forward and kissed him again but this time he kissed her back. It was a slow and soft kiss and it didn't last long but it was wonderful for both of them. Caroline pulled away and smiled at him.

"My favourite flowers are Stephanotis flowers and you can pick me up tomorrow at 7.30pm." She said and he smiled.

"Really?" He asked and she saw he was happy about that.

"Mmhmm." She nodded. "Does that work for you?" She asked amused and he chuckled.

"Yes." He smiled. "But..." He trailed off then glanced down at the bed. "What about... when we met?" He asked her and she looked at him in contemplation. She'd always liked Damon but after spending the day with Dante... she kind of understood Damon more now. If Dante was Damon's best friend... Damon was obviously hiding himself away and Caroline wanted to know that person. She figured she could easily love that person. She was willing to just let the past be the past.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said and he looked at her confused.

"I'm talking about the fact that I..."

"Damon." She interrupted him and he looked at her. "Nothing happened. Let's just leave it at that." She smiled and he looked stunned.

"Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief and she smirked at him.

"Screw it up and I'll kick your ass." She said to him and he laughed.

"I won't. I promise." He smiled and she nodded.

"Good." She agreed. "But since I have a date tomorrow, I need my beauty sleep so go keep my new best friend company." She instructed and he chuckled.

"I will." He agreed amused. Caroline leaned forward and kissed him again and he smiled against her mouth as he kissed her back then she pulled away and lay down and pulled the covers up again. Damon stood up and walked towards the door then couldn't resist. "Just so you know... you don't need beauty sleep... you're always beautiful." He said and she smiled.

"Very nice start on not screwing it up." She winked at him and he chuckled.

"Night, Caroline." He smiled.

"Night, Damon." She replied and he left her room and closed the door. Caroline smiled a little to herself then minutes later she was fast asleep.

* * *

><p>Damon went downstairs and was internally shocked. Did that just really happen? He went over to his drink and picked it up then sat down on the couch and he was visibly surprised.<p>

"Everything alright?" Dante smirked at him and Damon chuckled.

"You eavesdropped, didn't you?" Damon asked amused and Dante chuckled.

"Obviously." Dante said amused. "I don't want to say I told you so but... I told you so." He smirked and Damon rolled his eyes. "Where you going to take her?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know yet." Damon replied as he thought about it.

"She mentioned earlier that she wants to go to a new Italian restaurant in the next town." Dante commented.

"I can't take her to an Italian restaurant. That's so cliché." Damon said and Dante chuckled.

"Well her favourite restaurant is apparently a Russian restaurant in Charlottesville." Dante said and Damon looked surprised.

"Russia House?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, that's what she said." Dante nodded.

"The food _is _amazing in there." Damon agreed.

"So take her there." Dante shrugged.

"Mmm." Damon nodded.

"You're nervous." Dante said amused and Damon shot him an annoyed look.

"It's not like I was expecting this so I'm not exactly prepared." Damon muttered.

"Just don't be a grumpy old git and it'll be fine." Dante said amused and Damon rolled his eyes at his brother.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, there would be Daroline and no Elena. (One can dream lol)

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 3

* * *

><p>Caroline wandered downstairs the following morning after she showered and changed since she kept some clothes there. She found Dante in the living room.<p>

"Morning." She smiled.

"Hey." He winked at her. "So you're going on a date with Damon." He said amused and she chuckled. "I totally eavesdropped." He smirked and she laughed a little then sat down next to him. She kind of gathered that Damon wasn't there since he was talking about it.

"Sleepover with vampires. Happens." She winked and he chuckled.

"Stefan told you that Damon likes you?" He asked her and she nodded. "We spent all day together yesterday and you didn't say anything about it." He pointed out and she smirked at him.

"Like you'd ever rat Damon out." She said to him and he laughed.

"True." He said amused. "So instead you got Damon to ask you out." He said and she laughed.

"You said you were listening." She pointed out amused. "He didn't ask me out. I informed him that he was taking me out. There's a difference." She said and he laughed at her saying that.

"Are you looking forward to it?" He asked and she sighed.

"Honestly? No." She said and he looked surprised.

"Why?" He asked confused. "You regret it in sobriety?" He asked.

"No, I've liked Damon for ages, it's not that." She said.

"Then what's wrong?" He asked her concerned. He totally _loved _Caroline already.

"I'm just really nervous and I talk _way _more when I'm nervous so he's not going to have any fun with me and I'd just rather get drunk and fall into bed with him to be honest." She muttered and he smirked.

"He likes you just as you are and that _includes _the talking." Dante said to her and she laughed. "Besides... he's totally nervous too so don't worry so much." He winked at her and she looked surprised.

"Are you joking?" She asked and he chuckled.

"He's liked you for ages too." He said amused and she chuckled.

"Any tips for conversation topics? I have a tendency to ramble." She said and he laughed.

"If you want Damon to _really _talk then there's travel or cars or music or movies." He shrugged.

"Is there anything he like _really _likes besides booze, blood and chicks?" Caroline asked and he laughed.

"Yeah, he'll kill me for telling you this, but he's a total Star Trek nerd." He smirked and Caroline laughed.

"Fuck off! No way!" Caroline said with a huge grin and Dante laughed loudly at her reaction.

"Way." He nodded and she giggled.

"That's awesome." She grinned and he laughed.

"So what are you doing today?" He asked.

"I have to go shopping for a dress." She replied.

"Want company? Damon's off doing Damon things." He said amused and she giggled.

"Damon things?" She asked amused and he chuckled.

"All he said was 'Later' so I have no idea what he's up to." Dante said amused and she laughed.

"Sure, let's go shopping then." She said amused.

* * *

><p>Bonnie and Stefan were sitting in the food court of the mall when Bonnie looked surprised and pointed. Stefan followed where she was pointing down the mall and he saw Caroline and Dante walking with smiles arm in arm and it was obvious that they were very much enjoying each other's company.<p>

"Care!" Bonnie called and Stefan glared at her for drawing attention to them. Caroline and Dante looked over then wandered over to them.

"Hey, guys." Caroline smiled.

"Dante." Stefan said nervously and Dante smirked.

"Lighten up, Stefan." Dante said amused. "You'll get wrinkles." He said and Caroline and Bonnie chuckled.

"You're shopping together?" Stefan asked them sceptically.

"Goldilocks is my new BFF." Dante replied amused and Caroline rolled her eyes at the name.

"If I'm Goldilocks, you're Dante-bear." She teased and he chuckled amused. Bonnie was really surprised at the difference in Dante's behaviour around Caroline.

"It's not the worst thing I've been called." He said amused and Caroline giggled. "Where have you been hiding, Stefan? I haven't seen you since I got here." Dante said amused.

"I stayed with Bonnie." Stefan replied.

"You missed Caroline kicking big bro's ass at Wii Bowling." Dante smirked and both Bonnie and Stefan laughed in surprise that Damon _would _play Wii Bowling. That and Stefan was _really _surprised at Dante being nice.

"And Wii Golf." Caroline smirked and they laughed.

"He's not a very good loser. He's all like 'I let you win'." Dante chuckled amused and Caroline giggled.

"We should really get some ridiculous Wii game and see if we can get him to do it." Caroline said to Dante who laughed loudly.

"Hell yeah. Like what?" He asked her with a grin.

"Like one of the dancing ones or Pokemon or something." Caroline teased and he shook with laughter.

"Fuck, that'll be so funny. I think we have to do that now." Dante said amused and she giggled. Stefan was trying to not _gape _at his brother's behaviour.

"Let's go then." She giggled. "See you two later." She waved at Bonnie and Stefan and Dante saluted them then they hurried off arm in arm towards the video game store.

"He's not... what I expected." Bonnie said to Stefan confused.

"He's not acting like Dante, that's why." He said just as confused. "He was like... nice-ish to me. That's so weird." He said.

"Caroline. She has that effect on people." Bonnie said fondly. "They seem to be getting along really well considering they were obviously together all day yesterday and now today again." Bonnie pointed out.

"Mmm." Stefan nodded as he thought about that. "It's weird. Dante doesn't usually take to people that well." He said.

"Won't them spending so much time together make Damon jealous?" Bonnie asked.

"No. Dante would never in a million years go after Caroline knowing Damon likes her." Stefan said.

"Would he know that Damon likes her?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Yeah." Stefan nodded. "Damon tells him everything." He said surprising Bonnie.

* * *

><p>On the dot 7.30pm, Caroline heard a knock at her door and her stomach twisted with nerves. She went to the door and opened it and there stood Damon with a smirk. Damon was dressed in a beautiful dark grey suit, black shirt and silver tie. Caroline's dress had a plain black fitted pencil skirt and from the bust up it was a taupe floral embroidered sleeveless style. Her hair was straight, her makeup was smoky and she had plum patent high heeled pumps on.<p>

"You look amazing." Damon said and she smiled.

"Thanks, so do you." She said then he held up his hand and she giggled at the sight. He was holding a bouquet of Stephanotis flowers with the stems wrapped in a teal blue satin ribbon and all of the flowers had a small diamante in the centre.

"Wow, they're beautiful." She smiled and he chuckled as she took them from him. "Come in." She said and he followed her inside as she put them into a vase. "So where are we going?" She asked him curiously.

"Dante said you like Russia House." He said and she looked surprised.

"I do. I love that place." She grinned.

"Want to go there then?" He asked.

"Works for me." She smiled then grabbed her coat and she was surprised when Damon took it from her and helped her put it on. She realised he was trying to be all gentlemanly and she was half amused and half fluttery at that. They went down to the car and after Damon had been driving for about five minutes Caroline couldn't really contain herself any longer. "Have you heard about the book on Betazeds?" She asked with a smirk and he looked at her confused. "It's by Ophelia Paine." She teased and he cracked up into laughter. He couldn't help it... it was so funny... Then he realised that Dante had _obviously _told her.

"I'm going to kill him." Damon said amused and she laughed.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." She smirked and he chuckled.

"How would you even know a joke like that?" He asked her with a smirk. He was highly embarrassed that his brother blabbed about his secret pleasure.

"Because I've probably seen every single episode of the Original series and the Next Generation like ten times." She smirked and he looked at her shocked.

"Are you joking?" He asked her seriously surprised and she giggled.

"Nope." She said amused. "Though I stopped watching at the beginning of Voyager because I just think they lost sight of the prime directive." She said and he chuckled. He couldn't _believe _that she knew all about this!

"I sound like a total nerd but it's kind of awesome that you like it too." He smirked and she laughed.

"It's one of my guilty pleasures." She said amused and he laughed. "Though _you _being a Trekkie is kind of shocking." She teased and he chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a _Trekkie_... I just kind of possibly like some of the episodes." He said and she laughed.

"Is that so?" She teased and he chuckled. "Dante said you're a total Star Trek nerd." She said and he laughed embarrassed.

"I'm seriously going to kill him." He smirked and she giggled.

"Please don't. He's awesome." She said and he chuckled.

"Since you said 'please'." He teased and she smiled. She was kind of glad she broke the ice considering it was a _teeny _bit awkward at first.

"Who is your favourite Captain?" She asked and he chuckled.

"Kirk, obviously." He smirked.

"Good." She said amused and he winked at her. "We bumped into Stefan earlier and Dante was kind of nice to him." She commented and Damon looked surprised.

"What were you doing at the time?" He asked.

"We were shopping in the mall." Caroline replied and Damon chuckled.

"He was probably just having fun with you and didn't want to think about the Stefan drama." Damon shrugged.

"We did have a lot of fun. We got a few Wii games." She giggled and Damon looked amused.

"You got something ridiculous, didn't you?" He asked and she chuckled.

"No, of course not." She lied and he chuckled.

"You're not a very good liar, Blondie." He said and she laughed.

"Well... I wouldn't say _ridiculous_, per se..." She said and he laughed.

* * *

><p>They got to the restaurant a short while later and Caroline walked in with a smile which only widened at the sight of the hostess.<p>

"Caroline!" The woman said happily then ran over to her and hugged her and Caroline hugged back happily. Damon was kind of surprised at that.

"Privet, Ivanka. Kak vy?" Caroline asked her with a grin. (_Hello, Ivanka. How are you?)_

"Ya velik i vy?" The woman grinned back. Damon was _shocked _that Caroline could speak Russian. (_I'm great and you?)_

"To zhe samoe . Ya skuchal po tebe tak mnogo." Caroline smiled. (_Same. I have missed you so much.)_

"Ya skuchal po tebe, moya devochka. My dolzhny budem provesti vremya vmeste v blizhaĭshyee vremya." The woman smiled as she cupped Caroline's cheek and Damon could see that the woman deeply cared for her. Caroline nodded happily. _(I missed you too, my girl. We will have to spend time together soon.)_

"Ivanka this is Damon. Damon, Ivanka." Caroline introduced them and Damon shook her hand.

"Very nice to meet you, Damon." Ivanka smiled.

"You too." Damon agreed.

"Come, we have a table in the back." Ivanka winked at Caroline who giggled considering that was the private area for VIPs who spent a fortune there. Damon looked kind of surprised at that too considering he knew that about the back too. They followed her into the back and she led them to an amazing secluded circular booth and they sat down. "What would you like to drink, Damon?" She asked him.

"The Muscovy Martini, please." He smirked at her and she nodded.

"You want the Raspberry Romanoff?" Ivanka asked Caroline who giggled.

"Of course." She winked at Ivanka who chuckled.

"One moment." Ivanka smiled then left the two of them.

"Explain?" Damon asked Caroline amused.

"Ivanka was my nanny from age one to twelve." Caroline said and Damon looked surprised.

"So that's how you speak Russian?" Damon smirked at her and she chuckled.

"Yeah." Caroline nodded amused.

"It's hot." Damon winked at her and she laughed.

"She and her husband own the restaurant." Caroline said surprising Damon.

"So you come here a lot?" He asked.

"Not as much recently because of all the drama but Elena, Bonnie and I used to come here every Saturday for lunch for like three years before all the drama happened." Caroline said and Damon looked surprised again. "We used to get a table back here and Ivanka would let us have one cocktail each and we thought we were cool like the Sex and the City girls." She said amused and Damon chuckled. "Do you speak Russian?" She asked.

"Basics like hi, how are you and stuff like that." He smirked. "Are you fluent?" He asked.

"Yeah." Caroline nodded. "Ivanka even took me over to Russia for a month the summer my dad left my mom. It was amazing there." She smiled.

"Where?" He asked curiously.

"Just outside of St Petersburg then we spent a week at Lake Baikal." She smiled.

"Would you go back to Russia?" He asked curiously and she nodded immediately.

"Yeah, I'd love to live there." She grinned.

* * *

><p>Caroline had the sautéed flounder with lemon butter sauce and Damon had the sautéed duck with sour cherry sauce and the two of them thoroughly enjoyed their food. Damon was kind of surprised that Ivanka hadn't stuck around considering she and Caroline knew each other so well but he gathered Ivanka knew it was a date. After dinner, Caroline couldn't help a small giggle.<p>

"What's funny?" Damon smirked at her.

"This is just so normal." She said to him and he laughed a little.

"What do you mean?" He asked amused.

"Two vampires going to dinner on a date when neither needs food... it's a little funny, you have to admit." She smiled and he chuckled.

"I'm not exactly big on the dates normally, you know." He smirked and she smiled.

"Then why don't we just be _us _and go and get smashed in a bar?" She asked him and he laughed. He kind of thought he loved her in that moment.

"Really?" He asked with a smirk and she looked at him amused.

"This might be kind of blunt but you and me going on a date at a restaurant is just _weird_." She said and he laughed. He'd been thinking the same thing.

"It totally is, isn't it?" He asked amused and she giggled.

"What do you say then, Salvatore? Shall we find some little backwater bar and go for it with the bourbon?" She asked amused and he chuckled.

"Oh, yeah." He said amused and she laughed.

* * *

><p>They found a little bar just outside of Mystic Falls and spent the rest of their date there. They drank and they talked and Damon had to admit that was much more fun than the stuffy restaurant idea. Once the two of them were a bit drunk, Caroline put some songs on the juke box and Damon danced her around a little and they both had a fun time. Damon dropped Caroline home just after midnight and he walked her up to the door. She turned around to say goodnight to him and he pushed her up against the door and kissed her. She kissed him back happily and soon he pulled away with a smirk and looked at her.<p>

"So, will you go out with me again?" He asked her and she nodded with a smile.

"But can we just hang out next time?" She asked and he chuckled. He liked that she wasn't all high maintenance looking for stuffy dates and would rather just do something fun.

"Definitely." He agreed. "Tomorrow night?" He asked her and internally she was very pleased that he wanted to see her again so quickly.

"Apparently Dante is dragging me to some concert tomorrow night." She said and he chuckled. "The next day?" She asked him and he nodded.

"That's fine." He smiled.

"You should come to the concert." She said to him and he looked surprised.

"Who's playing?" He asked. "Dante's taste in music can be a bit weird." He said and she chuckled.

"It's a local battle of the bands thing. He thinks it'll be funny to watch and see how terrible they all are." She giggled and Damon laughed. It sounded like such a Dante thing to do.

"Alright." He smirked.

"I had fun tonight." She smiled.

"Me too." He agreed then leaned down and kissed her again. Caroline pulled him a little closer and deepened the kiss. Damon kind of felt like he was in heaven considering he'd liked her for almost a year and he was finally getting to do this. He didn't want to screw it up though so he knew he needed to stop before he stopped thinking with his brain. He pulled away then. "Night, Blondie." He smirked and she smiled.

"See you tomorrow." She said and he nodded then she let herself into the house and he winked at her then he went back to his car and she closed the door. Caroline leaned against the back of the door and she couldn't help a wide smile at how amazing her date with Damon was. Damon was grinning just as widely on the whole drive home.

* * *

><p>Damon walked into the boarding house with a smile and he found Dante in the living room watching Lord of the Rings which made him chuckle.<p>

"Hey." Dante smiled at him. "You look happy." He commented.

"Damon?" They both heard and Stefan appeared from upstairs and looked at Damon confused. Damon was kind of surprised at the fact Stefan and Dante had clearly been together in the boarding house and nobody was yelling. "Why are you in a suit?" He asked confused and Damon smirked.

"Because I just had a date with Blondie." He replied and Stefan looked stunned.

"Really?" He asked shocked.

"Mmhmm." Damon nodded. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were staying at the witch's house." Damon said confused.

"Her dad came back." He shrugged and both Damon and Dante chuckled.

"Hasn't daddy witch met you?" Dante asked amused and Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah, but I can't exactly stay at her house with her when he's there." Stefan commented and they chuckled.

"You have no concept of the window exit, have you?" Damon asked amused and Dante laughed while Stefan deadpanned at him.

"She's not some one night stand, Damon." Stefan said and Damon chuckled.

"She's not exactly the girl for you either." Damon said and Stefan looked really confused.

"What do you mean? Why not?" Stefan asked.

"Have you forgotten that little issue she has called _mortality_?" Damon asked him and Stefan rolled his eyes.

"We've been dating for three months, Damon. It's kind of early to be thinking like that." Stefan pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're banging _Judgy_, Stefan. She's _never _going to turn even if you've been together for ten years." Damon said and Stefan sighed. "Good thing too. Couldn't imagine having her around _forever_." Damon shuddered and Dante laughed while Stefan glared at him.

"Why do you dislike her so much?" Stefan asked confused.

"Who said I dislike her?" Damon asked amused and Stefan deadpanned.

"You're joking, right?" Stefan asked dryly.

"Whatever, you know what? I had a really nice time with Blondie so buzz off and don't ruin it. Not interested in your witchy drama." Damon said dismissively then ignored him and went over to his drinks cart and picked up a glass and the bottle then went over and sat down next to Dante.

"How did you end up on a date with Caroline anyway?" Stefan asked curiously.

"Because you have a big mouth." Dante replied amused and Damon chuckled.

"The _one and only _time I benefitted from it." Damon smirked at Dante who chuckled.

"Isn't it weird going out with the witch when only months ago you were going out with the other one?" Dante asked Stefan curiously.

"Only when Elena's there. Which is all the time since Damon won't talk to her." Stefan commented.

"She told Blondie that she thinks Dante's totally hot." Damon said amused. "So he's no doubt the next target." He smirked and Dante chuckled while Stefan looked surprised.

"Are you joking?" Stefan asked shocked and Damon chuckled.

"Nope." Damon smirked.

"Speaking of Caroline, did she say when she's coming over tomorrow?" Dante asked Damon.

"For the battle of the bands thing?" Damon asked.

"No, she's never seen Rocky so we're having a Rocky marathon before that." Dante smirked and Damon chuckled.

"You're hanging out with Caroline _again_?" Stefan asked shocked.

"I absolutely _love _that girl. I swear as girly as this sounds, we were no doubt best friends in a past life." Dante said and Damon laughed while Stefan was just shocked that Dante would say something like that.

"That is such a chick thing to say." Damon teased Dante who chuckled.

"Don't care." Dante smirked. "So don't screw up this dating thing." Dante warned Damon who rolled his eyes. Stefan was shocked at Dante saying that to Damon.

"No pressure, dude." Damon muttered and Dante chuckled.

"I'll still be friends with her if you do though." Dante smirked and Stefan looked seriously surprised by that.

"I'm not going to screw it up." Damon replied.

"Good. Would hate to have to take _her _to Africa and ditch _you_." Dante teased and Damon laughed while Stefan's jaw dropped...


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, the show would not have two hot vampire brothers as Elena doormats. Instead, they would listen to Klaus and Elijah and realise that being brothers is far more important than fighting over a girl who would never turn to be with either of them. Disclaimer/Rant over.

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 4

* * *

><p>"Africa?" Stefan asked confused.<p>

"Mmhmm. My BFF is leaving with me. Damon might too." Dante chuckled and Damon rolled his eyes considering Dante knew Damon would go too.

"Caroline's leaving? With you?" Stefan asked shocked.

"She doesn't want to go to college yet and it's not like the witch is going to compromise on that part so yeah, she's coming to Africa with me." Dante shrugged.

"When?" Stefan asked stunned and Dante shrugged.

"Whenever. I thought this town was going to be a total drag but it's not that bad. Probably in a few weeks. Whenever you've irritated me to the point of leaving." Dante said and Stefan sighed while Damon chuckled.

"Are you going to hate me forever?" Stefan asked him in a small voice.

"I don't hate you." Dante replied and Stefan blinked in surprise.

"You don't?" Stefan asked confused as he'd been under the impression that Dante would hate him forever.

"No. Hate requires time and energy and I'm not wasting either on you." Dante replied and Damon saw that Stefan looked crushed at that. Stefan turned on his heel then quickly left the boarding house through the front door and Damon sighed. Damon wanted his younger brothers to get along just a _little _instead of the way things were but he knew it would no doubt never happen. He understood why too, he knew Dante loved Grace still so until the day he stopped loving her, Stefan would never be able to be brothers with Dante again.

"Well, that was a nice ending to the evening." Damon said dryly and Dante shrugged.

"I am attempting to be civil to him for you and for Caroline but he did ask so no point in lying." Dante said.

"So you don't care about Stefan at _all_?" Damon asked him softly and Dante shot him an annoyed look.

"How can you ask me that? You? You saw it. You know what he did." Dante said.

"And he'll have to live with the fact he did that to you forever." Damon replied. "You're really going to not care about him _forever_?" Damon asked.

"Damon, don't go there." Dante said staring at the floor.

"If you can't talk to _me _about this, who can you talk to?" Damon asked and Dante looked up at him with watery eyes.

"I avoid him because I still love my little brother and it makes me feel sick that I could love the person who tortured and killed Grace. Is that what you want to hear?" Dante asked him a little emotionally and Damon's heart clenched. He put his arm over Dante's shoulders and pulled him close. Dante leaned his head against Damon's shoulder and just sat there like that for a minute.

"I'm sorry." Damon said softly. "I won't bring it up again." He added and Dante nodded.

"Tell me about your date." Dante said and his voice cracked a little and Damon felt so bad.

"It was kind of awkward at first until Blondie cracked a Star Trek joke." Damon smirked and Dante couldn't help laughing at that.

"She did?" He laughed.

"It was a really funny joke too." Damon said amused.

"She _would _ease the tension by doing that. That's hilarious." Dante chuckled. "Are you going out again?" He asked.

"Mmhmm. The day after tomorrow." Damon replied. "She asked me to go to the thing with you tomorrow night though." He said.

"Cool. It should be fun." Dante smiled then sat up and Damon took his arm back knowing that Dante felt better.

"Did she say anything to you about it this morning?" Damon asked.

"She said that she didn't want to go." Dante smirked and Damon looked at him surprised and confused.

"Why?" He asked.

"She said she was really nervous and she talks more when she's nervous and she was worried that you'd have a crappy time because she'd just ramble." Dante said and Damon winced a little.

"I really hate that I gave her such a complex about that." Damon muttered.

"Just be nice to her and in time she won't worry about you." Dante said.

"I don't deserve her, Dant. I really shouldn't be going after her at all." He said and Dante shot him an annoyed look.

"She wants _you_ so don't start that crap. Damon, she's amazing and I have no doubt that you'd be happier than ever if you just let her in. But unless you're willing to _actually _try, don't string her along. She deserves the best so _be _the best." Dante said to him and Damon cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked confused.

"Treat her well. Don't screw her around. Don't push her away when she starts to really _know _you. I've only spent two days with her and I already know that she'd never hurt you in a million years so just be happy, Damon." He said.

"Do you... like her?" Damon asked him curiously and Dante sighed.

"No, just as a friend. You know when _you_ like someone it's like a switch in my brain that makes them unavailable for that." He said.

"And if I didn't?" Damon asked him.

"Then yeah, I would." Dante nodded surprising Damon. "And the good thing about that is what you suggested. I can be friends with her and it shows me that it _is _possible after Grace. That _maybe _one day I'll meet a girl who I'll want to be with." Dante said and Damon nodded in understanding.

"That's good though, Dant. That you're at least thinking about trying." Damon said.

* * *

><p>The morning after her second date with Damon, Caroline went over to the boarding house because she and Dante were supposed to be going to Charlottesville for the day. She let herself in the door and found Dante sitting watching TV.<p>

"Hey." He smiled at her.

"Morning." She smiled back. In a blink, Damon was in front of her and he kissed her. She chuckled against his lips at him just appearing out of nowhere and Dante was chuckling amused at his big brother's antics. "Well, that's one way to say hello." She said when she pulled away and he winked at her.

"Damon, I was mid sentence, you know... oh, hey, Caroline." Stefan smiled when he saw her as he'd just trudged down the stairs. He then realised why Damon had just disappeared.

"Mid sentence?" Caroline teased Damon who smirked.

"Hmm... listen to Stefan nag or go see you. Tough one." He said and she smiled.

"Smooth." She said to him.

"_I_ thought so." He smirked and both Stefan and Dante laughed while Caroline rolled her eyes amused. She wandered into the living room and plopped down next to Dante on the couch.

"Aren't you and Bonnie supposed to be going to see Lucy today?" Caroline asked Stefan confused.

"We are. She's having brunch with her dad first." He replied and she nodded.

"Does Bonnie use magic in the sack?" Caroline asked and both Damon and Dante burst into laughter at not only the fact she asked that but _how _she asked it. Stefan just blushed.

"Aww, look, little Steffy's embarrassed." Damon teased.

"Did you have to ask me that in front of my brothers?" Stefan asked her dryly and she smirked.

"It wouldn't have been quite as amusing if I hadn't." She replied and Damon and Dante only laughed louder.

"Oh, c'mon, you have to tell us." Dante said amused.

"Yeah, you can't just not answer that now." Damon agreed with a smirk. Stefan just looked highly embarrassed.

"Or is she still holding out on you?" Caroline asked and Damon and Dante started a fresh round of laughter.

"Caroline." Stefan said wide eyed in disbelief.

"What? I totally want to know. She can levitate things so imagine how cool it would be to get laid mid air?" Caroline asked and the older two were in full hysterics. "Ooh or on the ceiling." She said.

"I love you, Caroline." Dante said while he laughed and she giggled.

"No, she doesn't use magic." Stefan said embarrassed.

"Bet now you're totally wishing she did though." Caroline smirked and Damon and Dante were holding their stomachs from laughing so hard.

"You're spending too much time with them." Stefan pointed to his older brothers with a huff then darted out the door and they all laughed.

"Was he always so huffy?" Caroline asked amused.

"Yes." They replied simultaneously and she giggled.

"That was hilarious." Damon laughed.

"Did you see his face? He totally _was _thinking about it." Dante laughed. "How did he even end up with the witch?" He asked.

"Elena was in the hospital for like a week and she asked Bonnie to keep Stefan company when he was in the cell because we were all trying to coax his humanity back out and they just kept talking and spent a lot of time together and developed feelings for each other. Bonnie brought his feelings back because he started to feel for _her_." Caroline replied and Dante nodded in understanding.

"It's still a weird pairing though." Damon commented.

"Wasn't the doppelganger pissed at that though?" Dante asked.

"Nah, she was too busy trying to get the other brother to talk to her to notice what was happening between Stefan and Bonnie." Caroline said to Dante amused while Damon rolled his eyes.

"I don't see the attraction." Dante replied.

"To Damon?" Caroline asked amused and he laughed.

"No, the doppelganger." He replied.

"It was a Katherine thing. I told you that." Damon replied.

"I didn't see it when it was Katherine either, Damon." Dante commented with a smirk.

"You were already married." Damon pointed out.

"Yeah, but didn't stop Katherine trying it on with me too." Dante replied amused and Caroline looked surprised while Damon rolled his eyes.

"Well, she's an evil slut. We all know that." Damon replied and Dante chuckled.

"You didn't think Katherine was attractive?" Caroline asked Dante surprised.

"Nah, never been one for brunettes." He smirked and Caroline giggled while Damon rolled his eyes at his brother. Damon so didn't want to talk about the Katherine saga in front of Caroline. He didn't want her reminded of all of that.

"Wouldn't surprise me if Elena has a go at you." Caroline said and he chuckled.

"That could be funny." He smirked and Caroline giggled. "Do you have any friends aside from her who haven't gotten any in a while?" Dante asked and both Damon and Caroline laughed.

"I'll have a think about it and get back to you." Caroline winked at him and he chuckled.

"You do that." He smirked.

* * *

><p>Dante had been in Mystic Falls for a week and he'd seen Caroline every day. He totally adored her already and thought she was just wonderful. They were walking through the woods when he couldn't help telling her.<p>

"Grace would have loved you." He said and Caroline smiled at him.

"Tell me about her." She said guessing who Grace was. He hadn't mentioned her before and she figured he was starting to trust her if he was bringing her up.

"Like what?" He asked hesitantly and she knew that it was a very hard thing for him to think about.

"Anything. She must have been an incredible person if you're still in love with her." She smiled at him softly and he nodded.

"She was. My first really detailed memory I have is actually the day I met her." He said with a faraway smile. "I was five." He chuckled and Caroline smiled. "Damon and I were in the field near our house playing when we saw a carriage pulling up at the property across the field so we ran down to see who it was because we were nosy." He smirked and she giggled. "We saw her father and mother getting out of the carriage then she got out. We spied on them for a few minutes then her mother noticed us and asked us to come down. Damon introduced us to them but all I remember was her little blue dress and her blonde curls and thinking she looked like a beautiful doll." He said and Caroline smiled.

"So you fell in love when you were five?" She smiled and he chuckled.

"I did." He agreed. "And it was always Grace from that day." He said. "I asked her father's permission to marry her the day I turned seventeen because my father wouldn't allow it before then and her father said no because she was six months younger than me so she was only sixteen. So I asked again on my eighteenth birthday and he still said no, he thought she was too young. Then I asked again on _her _eighteenth birthday and her father finally said yes because he was getting fed up with the two of us looking so sad at the fact he kept saying no." He smirked and she laughed.

"That's so romantic." She smiled. "So when did you finally get married?" She asked him.

"Six months later." He smiled. "Damon was away at the war and I refused to get married without him there." He said.

"Do you have any pictures of her?" Caroline asked.

"I do." He replied then pulled out his wallet. He took out a picture which had been laminated and Caroline gathered that was so it wouldn't get damaged as easily. He handed it to her and she saw a beautiful woman with curly dark blonde hair with kind eyes and a wicked smile.

"She's beautiful, Dante." Caroline said softly and he smiled sadly at the photo.

"She was. But she was also wild and fun and different. She had a lust for life that wasn't heard of in those times. When I was growing up, everything was so proper and done in a certain way but she didn't care about the rules of society. She thought you only live once, so live well while you can." He said.

"I like her already." Caroline smiled and Dante couldn't help hugging her. She hugged him back tightly.

"I miss her, Care." He said softly and she nodded against his neck.

"I know you do." She said soothingly rubbing his back softly.

"Will it ever hurt less?" He asked.

"No, it won't." She replied softly. "But you'll learn to live with it and it'll get easier." She said.

* * *

><p>A few days later at 6am on Friday morning, Caroline and Dante were driving up to New York for the night and were coming back the following evening so Caroline was sneaking into Damon's room to spend some time with him before she went away. She went into his room quietly and she bit her lip so she wouldn't giggle at how cute he looked with his bed hair sticking up all over the place and his face mashed into the pillow. He was only in his boxers but the cover was up at his shoulders and he was all tucked in. She kicked off her shoes silently then walked over to his bed and lifted the covers on one side which made him sleepily open one eye. She lay down beside him and he put an arm over her waist and pulled her in close to him.<p>

"Morning." He mumbled sleepily and she chuckled.

"Sorry I woke you. I just wanted to spend some time with you before Dante and I leave." She said and he frowned.

"Don't go." He mumbled and she smiled and her stomach fluttered.

"We'll be back tomorrow night. You won't even notice that I'm gone." She said and he smirked then leaned forward and kissed her.

"I'll notice." He mumbled against her mouth then pulled her flush against him. "What is the waiting protocol in dating for when I can try to get into your pants?" He asked and she laughed then kissed him.

"Well, it's usually the third date at bare minimum." She said amused.

"But we've had four." He pointed out and she chuckled.

"Mmhmm, but you didn't try anything." She said amused and he kissed her.

"I clearly lost my mind." He mumbled then kissed her again and she giggled against his mouth.

"Guess you'll just have to try on the fifth date then." She said amused.

"What's wrong with now?" He smirked at her and she kissed him.

"Nothing in theory, but I have to go in like fifteen minutes and if we're doing that I don't want just fifteen minutes with you." She teased and he chuckled.

"That's a good point." He agreed with a nod. "So... why don't we go away somewhere for a couple of days after you get back?" He suggested.

"_You_ want to make it special? You feeling alright?" She teased and he chuckled.

"You're not just some girl, you know." He pointed out and she smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own The Vampire Diaries - The last episode of the show was so awful. I did like the Damon/Rebekah hookup and the Klaus/Caroline scenes but the rest of it was a joke. It had to be. Not a funny joke but still a joke. I'm really disappointed in Stefan for snapping Damon's neck. I really hope someone offs Elena soon because she is a horrible bitch and if Damon takes her back after how cruel she continually is to him the writers clearly want him to be pathetic.

**This chapter is dedicated to DamnWhoopsIMeantDamon for a really wonderful review that meant so much to me. Thank you so much!**

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 5

* * *

><p>Dante got back to the boarding house around dinner time the following night with a smile on his face. He and Caroline had a blast in New York. They went shopping then went to the theatre then went out clubbing and the two of them had lots of fun together. He'd seen her a lot since the first day they hung out together and he was more convinced than ever that she was going to be his best friend forever. He walked in and was instantly faced with Stefan.<p>

"Stefan." He nodded.

"I have to tell you something." Stefan said to him.

"Why?" Dante asked him sceptically.

"Damon had sex with someone last night." Stefan said and Dante's jaw dropped.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "Why?" He asked shocked.

"I have no idea. I came into the house late last night and I heard him screwing someone in the kitchen so I left again." Stefan muttered and Dante sighed in annoyance.

"Idiot." Dante said annoyed.

"That's not the only thing." Stefan said.

"How can there be more? When Caroline finds out she'll be hurt." He said and Stefan nodded.

"Elena saw him kissing the girl then he left the Grill with her so Elena will be itching to tell Caroline the first chance she gets." Stefan said and Dante scowled at nothing in particular.

"Fuck." Dante said.

"So you need to get Damon to tell her. She might be less mad if she hears it from _him _instead of Elena who will enjoy hurting Caroline because Elena wants Damon." Stefan said and Dante shook his head in annoyance.

"Wonderful. I'm going to kick his ass." Dante muttered then hurried upstairs to his room to dump his stuff.

* * *

><p>Dante found Damon at the Grill with Ric at the bar. He walked up to Damon and smacked him hard on the back of the head.<p>

"Oww." Damon said annoyed and put his hand on his head.

"You're an idiot." Dante said to him angrily and Damon looked surprised considering Dante hardly _ever _got mad at him.

"Why?" He asked confused.

"You screwed someone else last night! Are you stupid?" Dante asked him in disbelief and Ric looked surprised that Damon had done that.

"How do you know that?" Damon asked confused.

"Because you were dumb enough to pick the chick up here and Katherine 2.0 saw you and told the witch." Dante said and Damon looked surprised. "They'll tell Caroline." He said. "So you have to tell her before they do since Stefan said Elena will enjoy hurting Caroline with that." Dante said annoyed and Damon looked kind of guilty.

"We've only been on four dates, Dant. What's the big deal?" He asked and Dante looked at him like he had three heads.

"The big deal is that you just fucked yourself because you couldn't keep your pants on." Dante snapped then turned on his heel and left the Grill leaving Damon gaping after him.

* * *

><p>Dante was worried about Caroline and he was fuming at Damon so he went over to her house and knocked on the door. The Sheriff opened with a smile.<p>

"Hi, Dante." She said.

"Evening, Sheriff. Is Caroline here?" He asked her.

"No, Elena came over a little while ago and Caroline left right after that." Liz said and Dante nodded.

"Okay, thank you. Have a good night." He said then hurried away from the door. He kind of wanted to kill that stupid doppelganger for this. He thought hard to where Caroline could be then he raced there.

* * *

><p>Dante walked into the happy hour cocktail bar and found Caroline sitting by herself staring into space and he sat down across from her.<p>

"Figured I'd find you here." He said to her.

"Hey." She said and he could see she was upset. "So why were you looking for me?" She asked in a small voice.

"You know why." He replied.

"Elena told me that Damon hooked up with someone last night." She said.

"I know. Stefan told me." Dante replied. "He's an idiot. Want me to kick his head repeatedly for you?" He asked her taking her hand and she gave it a soft squeeze.

"We're not together, Dante. He can sleep with whoever he wants to." Caroline replied and Dante gave her a sad look.

"You don't really feel that way though." He said and she shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter how I feel about it. That's the truth. He _is _single so he can do whatever he wants. I just wish it wasn't Elena who told me that. She thoroughly enjoyed every second of telling me that." Caroline muttered. It only made Dante _more _angry at Damon.

"What are you going to do?" He asked softly.

"Nothing." She shrugged. "It's not like he cheated on me." She said. "We've only been on four dates." She added.

"But you haven't slept with anyone else." He replied confused and she shrugged again.

"I'm not really interested in hooking up with randoms." She said.

"You're not angry at him?" Dante asked her confused.

"No, I'm not angry." She admitted. "I can't get angry. He's not my boyfriend." She said. "Can I ask you something? And please be honest with me." She said and he nodded. "Would you stop being friends with me if I stopped seeing Damon?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No, definitely not. I'm pretty sure I'll always be friends with you no matter what." He said sincerely and she smiled a little.

"I'm so glad you came to town, you know." She said softly. "Everything is better with you around." She said sincerely and he smiled.

"I'm so glad I came here too. What a bummer eternity would have been without you." He said and she grinned at him.

* * *

><p>By the time Caroline got home, she was feeling much better. Dante seemed to have that effect on her. She walked into her room and Damon was sitting on her window sill.<p>

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Caroline asked him curiously and he kind of gulped.

"I have to tell you something." He said and she sighed.

"Elena already beat you to it. Can we not get into it?" She asked and he scowled at nothing in particular.

"What did Elena say?" He asked.

"I don't want to talk about this." She said as she hung up her jacket and took off her shoes.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked.

"No." She replied and he looked at her confused. "It's late, Damon, and I'm tired. You should go." She said to him absently as she opened a drawer to pull out her pyjamas.

"You _are _mad." He said as he walked over to her and stood in front of her.

"No, I'm not." She said sincerely. "We've only been on four dates. You can sleep with whoever you want to." She said.

"I was drunk. Really drunk. It... didn't mean anything." He said and she looked at him confused.

"Why are you telling me this? I'm not your girlfriend, Damon. You don't have to explain anything to me." She said to him and he looked at her worriedly.

"I'm clearly missing something." He said to her.

"What do you mean?" She sighed.

"Dante, Stefan and Bonnie all yelled at me but _you _aren't mad." He said deadpan.

"Do you _want _me to be mad?" She asked him cocking an eyebrow. She wondered if he was just trying to get some kind of reaction out of her.

"Well, no." He said and she looked at him confused.

"And I'm not. So what's the deal?" She asked him and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"So, why are they all mad and you're not?" He asked and she sighed.

"Look, Damon... if this is some kind of game to you, I really don't want to play." She said.

"What does that mean?" He asked confused.

"I understand that you're new to the whole dating thing but if you're testing me or playing with me or whatever, I don't want to be a part of that. Maybe you should date someone else if that's the case." She said and his eyes widened a little.

"I don't want to date someone else." He said.

"And I don't want to be an experiment." She said to him seriously and he felt _really _bad.

"You aren't." He said to her softly. "It's not a game or a test... I just don't know these things." He said. "But if you're not mad then why are you saying I should date someone else?" He asked.

"I'm not mad... I'm hurt. There's a difference." She said and his stomach clenched.

"I'm sorry." He said immediately because he didn't know what else to say to that. Hurting her was _so much worse _than just making her mad.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. We aren't together." She said and he felt so bad.

"So I screwed it up already." He said defeated and Caroline saw that he felt really bad and was just an idiot who didn't know any better.

"How would you feel if I'd slept with someone else last night?" She asked him and his jaw clenched. He felt kind of sick at the thought of that. That's when he realised that he'd _really _fucked up. "It's not so much the fact that you slept with someone else that I'm hurt over... it's the fact that _everyone _knows _and _that they all knew before I did. It's the fact Elena raced over here to rub it in my face because you didn't bother to even be discrete about it even though you know they all know that we've been going on dates." She said and Damon winced.

"I'm sorry... I didn't think. I won't do it again. I swear." He said and she saw that he really meant it.

"Damon." She said softly. "I want you to really think about this. Go home and get a good night's sleep and think about it. If you want to sleep with other people then I'm not the girl for you because I can't do that. Maybe you're just not ready for this yet. But I'm not going to be your fuck buddy or in an open relationship. If we _continue _to date I'm going to fall head over heels in love with you and I refuse to do that if you're not on the same page. I'm loyal and faithful and trustworthy and unless you're willing to be the same, I'm not going to go there with you. I like you and I want to keep dating you but I'm also a coward and I'm not willing to risk getting hurt, so you can let me know if you don't think you're up for it. I want to be enough and if I'm not... you have to tell me." She said and he felt _seriously awful_.

* * *

><p>Dante wandered into Damon's bedroom the following morning and found him lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.<p>

"Hey." Dante said to him then sat down next to where he lay.

"Hi." Damon mumbled.

"Sorry for yelling at you yesterday." Dante said and Damon gave him a look of confusion.

"Are you joking?" Damon asked him.

"No. You don't know these things. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you." He said.

"I hurt her." Damon said in a small voice and Dante sighed.

"Yeah, but luckily for you she's an angel and she's willing to still give your idiot ass a try." Dante smirked and Damon scowled at him.

"I told you that I shouldn't have gone there in the first place." Damon muttered.

"And I told you to really _try_." Dante countered.

"I just..." He trailed off.

"Freaked the fuck out." Dante finished for him and Damon shot him an annoyed look for knowing him so well.

"Yeah." Damon mumbled.

"What freaked you out?" Dante asked.

"I was just wasted and started thinking too much." Damon muttered.

"Is it the eventual commitment thing that freaked you out?" Dante asked.

"You mean only having her?" Damon asked and he nodded. "No." He replied.

"Then what?" Dante asked but Damon didn't reply. "Ah. The old 'hurt her first so she can't hurt me' thing." He said and Damon glared at him.

"I... think I... uh..." Damon trailed off.

"You're in love with her." Dante finished for him.

"Stop that." Damon snapped at him.

"Stop what? You won't say anything out loud." Dante pointed out with a chuckle. "And I know you and I know how you think." He said. "Damon, for once, just tell me what the problem is." He sighed.

"The problem is that I'll let her in then she'll see she can do a million times better than me then she'll dump my ass and I'll have to stake myself." He rambled annoyed and Dante laughed which visibly infuriated Damon.

"You are _so _dramatic." Dante said amused.

"I don't see how this is funny." Damon glared at him.

"It's funny because you're such a fucking dumbass." Dante smirked. "She's not going to hurt you, Damon. Not everyone will hurt you." He said sincerely.

"That's just what people do." Damon muttered.

"Oh, really?" Dante asked him. "I never have." He said and Damon sighed.

"That's different." Damon said.

"No, it isn't." Dante said. "Brothers are just as capable of it as anyone else as we both know. But don't be a coward, Damon. She's never once done anything to hurt you but you've hurt her plenty of times. She doesn't deserve that." Dante said.

"Don't you think I know that?" Damon asked him annoyed.

"Then stop being a total wimp and go tell her the truth." Dante said.

"And what is the truth?" Damon asked him annoyed.

"The truth is that you are clearly in love with her and you're just afraid to let her in because she's important to you. If you keep pushing her away, you _will _lose her and if you do that it'll be totally awkward because I'm not giving up an amazing friend just because you're a coward." He said and Damon scowled at him.

"I'm not a coward." Damon said annoyed.

"Then go tell her." Dante said to him seriously.

"I can't tell her that I love her!" Damon said to him like he was stupid.

"Why not?" Dante asked. "You do." He said.

"You're really annoying." Damon muttered.

"And you're a coward." Dante said and Damon sat up and glared at him.

"I am not a coward!" He exclaimed.

"Then stop acting like one!" Dante exclaimed back and Damon punched him so Dante punched him back.

"I can't believe you punched me." Damon said annoyed holding his cheek and Dante chuckled.

"You punched me first, dumbass." Dante said and Damon rolled his eyes.

"You called me a coward." Damon said.

"You _are_ being a coward." Dante said and Damon scowled at him.

"I _will_ punch you again." Damon warned.

"And I _will_ punch you back." Dante smirked.

* * *

><p>Damon showed up shortly after that and knocked on the front door of Caroline's house. He'd already listened and knew she was alone. His stomach was in knots. She opened the door and looked surprised.<p>

"Hey." She said.

"Do you have a minute?" He asked her a little nervously and she nodded then motioned for him to come in. They went into the living room and he sat next to her on the couch. "I thought about everything you said and I talked to Dante." He said and she nodded for him to continue. "I figured out that... I... was trying to push you away." He admitted quietly. Caroline had gathered as much.

"Why?" She asked him softly.

"Because I love you." Damon said and Caroline blinked rapidly at that. She hadn't expected him to say that. "And... that kind of... worries me." He said. "I'm screwed up. Apart from Dante, _everyone _I've ever loved has screwed me over and it's just easier to not go there in the first place." He said. "Being alone is better than being hurt." He said and Caroline nodded. She agreed with that.

"So are you telling me this because you want to end things with me?" She asked him.

"No." He said. "I'm telling you this because I hurt you. I've hurt you many times but you've never done anything to hurt me... so you deserved the truth." He said. "I don't deserve you." He said sincerely. "But I _do _love you." He said.

"Are you going to stop trying to push me away?" She asked him.

"Yes." He nodded and she thought about that for a second.

"So what _do _you want?" She asked.

"I don't want to just _date_." He said and she looked at him confused.

"You want to be together?" She asked and he nodded. "_Can _you do that?" She asked. "Because if we did that there would _only _be you for me." She said and his stomach fluttered. That was what he'd always wanted. To be enough.

"You're all I think about. There has only been you for me for months. When you live as long as I have, random sex with someone means _nothing_. It's just an urge like feeding." He admitted.

"I'm very understanding about most things. I can forgive almost anything. But if we do this and you sleep with someone else, I'll never forgive you. Is that understood?" She asked him seriously and he nodded.

"I won't. I promise." He said sincerely.

"Do you have any feelings for Elena?" Caroline asked him.

"Not at all. I wouldn't even give a crap if she died, to tell you the truth." He said.

"And by together do you mean you want me to be your girlfriend?" She asked.

"Yes." He nodded. He understood her hesitation. He deserved nothing less.

"Okay." She agreed and he smiled.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes." She nodded and he kissed her. "But if you're serious then this has to be taken slowly because we clearly need to learn to trust each other." She said pulling away before he could deepen the kiss.

"I do trust you." He said to her and she shook her head.

"No, you don't." She replied. "You don't trust me not to hurt you." She said and he looked surprised. "But you have to try to trust that." She added.

"I will." He replied.

* * *

><p>That afternoon there was a founders' event and Caroline was going with Dante. The two of them were kind of bored so they were sitting under a tree at the side of the Lockwood property chatting. Stefan and Bonnie were at the party as was Damon but he was busy talking to one of the councilmen. Stefan, Bonnie and Damon did notice Elena walking over to where Dante and Caroline were sitting chatting and they just <em>knew <em>Elena was going to say something mean to Caroline. Damon was trying to get away from the council member and Stefan was trying to convince Bonnie to go intercept Elena though they were both listening.

"What are you doing away over here?" Elena asked Caroline who shrugged.

"Party's boring." Caroline replied and Elena looked a little surprised by her answer as Caroline usually liked the parties.

"Hey, Dante." Elena smiled at him and he looked at her amused.

"It would be better if you don't talk to me, doppelganger." He replied and Elena looked a bit like she'd been slapped.

"Why?" She asked confused.

"Because you're a nasty piece of work and unlike my brothers, your big doe eyes hold no appeal for me, just like the other doppelganger." He said and Caroline was visibly surprised that he just hit out with that and Elena blinked in surprise. Stefan and Damon's eyes were a little wide at Dante _actually saying that_.

"I'm not a nasty piece of work." Elena said offended and he chuckled.

"Really?" He asked amused. "You're a total bitch to Caroline after she's been nothing but a friend to you your whole life and you messed with _both_ of my brothers. It would be in your best interest to leave Caroline and my brothers alone and avoid me because if you don't, I wouldn't hesitate to rip your heart out and bury you in the woods where you'll never be found." He said dangerously and Elena looked shocked. Stefan and Damon's jaws were dropped as was Caroline's. Stefan was too shocked about Dante _defending _him to care about his threat to Elena.

"How can you let him say that to me?" Elena asked Caroline in disbelief and Caroline shrugged.

"Because Dante's my friend and you're not. Now buzz off Elena." Caroline said and Elena glared at Caroline then turned on her heel and hurried away. Caroline turned to look at Dante and giggled. "You're so bad." She said amused and he smirked at her. He could see that it meant a lot to her that he'd stuck up for her.

"I seriously don't understand the doppelganger fascination. She's a total bitch and she's not even hot. She reminds me of a honey badger facially." He said and Caroline laughed loudly. She looked him straight in the eyes and gave him a warm smile.

"Thank you." She said softly and he smiled back at her.

"Any time." He winked and she grinned.

Damon saw the smiles and for the first time in his life, he was jealous of Dante.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own The Vampire Diaries - I hope after the last episode that Damon is done with Elena forever. It's probably not going to happen since the writers on the show seem determined to make Damon and Stefan as pathetic as possible when it comes to her but one can dream... Oh and GO CAROLINE for not letting Elena in! I was like wooooo! :D lol (sad I know, I'm just glad _someone _isn't putting up with her crap)

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 6

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><p>Damon and Caroline were in a booth at the Grill across from each other the day after the founders' event. Damon had been thinking over his Caroline and Dante situation and he knew they were just friends but he also knew that Caroline was amazing and he was pretty sure that if Dante didn't get a distraction – he'd fall for the blonde. Damon <em>also <em>knew that Dante was probably a better choice for her than he was and he didn't want to take the chance that Caroline would fall for Dante. So... he had an idea to remedy the situation.

"You know I was thinking about that conversation you had with Dante last week." Damon said and Caroline looked at him surprised.

"Which one?" She asked.

"About setting him up with someone." Damon replied and Caroline looked even more surprised.

"You think I should?" She asked curiously.

"Mmhmm." Damon nodded. "I want to stay here for a little while longer but Dante's going to get bored just sitting in the house with me and he'll want to leave. Doesn't have to be some kind of epic romance but maybe hanging out with a girl a few times might be good for him as like a 'first step' of sorts after his wife." He said and Caroline nodded.

"I can see why it's so hard for him to get over her though." She said and Damon looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, since he was in love with Grace from like age five." She said like it was obvious and Damon just _stared _at her. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible.

"Dante talked about Grace. To you." Damon said like he was trying to process that.

"Was he not supposed to?" Caroline asked him confused seeing his truly stunned look.

"He not only told you her name but told you things about her." Damon said still in the same way.

"Yeah, he told me how they met when you and him were playing in the field and how it took him three times to get her father's permission to marry her and that he didn't want to get married without you there to see it. She was so beautiful too." She added and Damon was quite sure he was about to fall out of the booth in shock.

"Wait. Just. A minute. Dante showed you a _picture_ of Grace." Damon said wide eyed in disbelief and she nodded.

"Damon, you're freaking me out. What is the deal?" She asked annoyed.

"My brother has barely opened up or said _anything _about her since her death. He hasn't told anyone her name the entire time we've been vampires. He hasn't told a story about her since her death. _I _didn't even know he kept a picture of her on him." He said and Caroline looked a little stunned.

"Oh." She replied and she felt really bad. She felt like he'd trusted her with that and she shouldn't have mentioned it. But it was Damon she was talking to – she thought Dante wouldn't mind that Damon knew she knew considering Damon was his best friend.

"It seems that my brother trusts you completely already." Damon commented and Caroline was a little surprised that Damon seemed... annoyed? No, not annoyed... she realised then that Damon was _jealous_. That had her more than a little worried. She did _not _want to damage their relationship. She refused to _ever _be an issue between them. So, she decided that she needed to get Damon to see that their relationship wasn't a threat to him.

"Well, he said he sees me as the little sister he never had. Maybe that's why." She said and Damon was visibly surprised by that.

"Sister? Really?" He asked and Caroline was glad that it seemed to have worked because Damon didn't look jealous anymore.

"Mmhmm. I kind of wish he was my brother too." She said. "Though, I'm glad he's not." She smiled.

"Why?" Damon asked confused and she laughed in disbelief.

"Think about it, _Blondie_." She said motioning between them and he laughed in surprise at his total 'blonde moment' and that she'd called him that.

"Right." He chuckled.

"Because otherwise I couldn't do this." She leaned forward and kissed him and he smirked against her mouth as he kissed her back then she pulled away and winked at him.

"Speaking of that, do you want to go away for the weekend?" He asked her and she looked at him amused.

"No. Your little escapade while I was in New York erased our four dates so you're going to have to take me on another three before trying anything." She smirked and he chuckled. He deserved worse than that so he wasn't going to push it.

"That's fair." He replied and she nodded like it was totally obvious which made him smirk. "So... this doesn't count?" He asked pointing to the table and she giggled.

"At _The Grill_?" She asked him highly amused and he chuckled.

"That's fine, Miss Forbes. I will just have to romance you off your feet." He winked and she giggled at him saying that.

"Don't you mean romance me onto my back?" She teased and he laughed in surprise.

"No, of course not." He replied with smirk. "You know that I love you so it's not about getting into your pants." He said and she chuckled. Her stomach fluttered at him saying it again.

"What is it about then?" She asked arching an eyebrow.

"Proving to you that I mean it." He replied softly and she smiled.

"As sweet as it is that you want to do that, big romantic dates aren't how to prove it." She said and he looked at her confused.

"Then what is?" He asked.

"Time." She replied. "As much as romance is fun, that's a way to enhance feelings. Feelings isn't a problem for us; but trust is, and the only way to build trust is time." She said taking his hand and he instantly interlaced their fingers as he thought about what she said.

"And what can I do to help you start to trust me?" He asked her and she thought about that.

"Start telling me things." She said and he looked at her confused.

"About what?" He asked.

"You." She said like it was obvious and he looked surprised.

"Like what?" He asked sceptically.

"You want me to trust you but you have to trust me too. But how can I trust you when I don't know you. You don't open up much to anyone aside from Dante." She said and he took a kind of long breath as he thought about that. He didn't want people to know much about him but he did see her point. Caroline saw that he was thinking that over. "It doesn't have to be a lot right away or anything too personal." She said then had an idea. "How about every time we spend time together you tell me one thing? It could even be something as simple as... like... your favourite song." She said and he looked a little surprised at that.

"Okay. You have to do the same then." He said and she smiled.

"But the difference is I'm an open book. I'd tell you anything you wanted to know anyway." She said and he rolled his eyes with a smirk. "But we can do it that way instead." She said and he smiled a little.

"My favourite song is Thriller by Michael Jackson." He admitted and she looked surprised. She'd heard him play different music over the time she'd known him and never once had he played that.

"Why?" She asked curiously and he chuckled.

"Honestly, I think it was the big long video he released for it that had me hooked. It was a really big deal at the time you know." He smirked and she smiled.

"It's a cool video." She agreed and he winked at her. She was so pleased internally that he told her.

"What's yours?" He asked and she blushed which made him chuckle.

"Well... I usually say my second favourite but my _actual _favourite song is 'Higher' by Creed." She said and he was surprised.

"Why don't you say that?" He asked curiously since he'd seen her blush over it.

"I just... relate to the lyrics a lot." She replied and he thought about the lyrics of that song to see what she meant.

"About wanting to make your dreams a reality?" He asked her and she looked at him a little surprised that he even _knew _the lyrics.

"I've always had vivid dreams when I sleep so sometimes when I wake up I wish I could go back into my dream because it was better there. That's why I like that song so much." She said and he looked at her curiously.

"What do you dream about?" He asked wanting to know because he had this sudden wish to make her dreams come true. He was surprised when she blushed like a tomato.

"Oh... uh... just... regular things." She said and he chuckled.

"And if you weren't so red, I might believe your awful attempt at a lie." He smirked and she only blushed _more_.

"What do _you _dream about?" She asked turning the tables on him and he chuckled knowing she didn't want to tell him then he gave her a beautiful smile.

"You." He replied and she blinked in surprise.

"You dream about me?" She asked and her stomach was totally fluttering. He saw that it clearly meant a lot to her so he didn't mind telling her the truth.

"Mmhmm. Practically every night." He replied and she smiled.

"And what are we doing in these dreams?" She asked curiously and he gave her a devious smirk and she chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Besides that." She said and he laughed a little.

"Lots of things." He shrugged. "It's usually some kind of adventure or travelling or something." He said. "Do I ever star in your dreams?" He asked amused and she blushed again.

"Yes." She replied and he smirked. He was kind of gathering that whatever it was that had her so embarrassed was something to do with him.

"You should really tell me what has you so mortified." He said amused and she chuckled nervously.

"I'm not mortified." She lied and he chuckled. He pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand.

"Liar." He teased and her stomach fluttered at the little affectionate thing he did.

"Fine. It's just sappy stuff with you involved. Now drop it." She said annoyed and he chuckled. Internally he was really pleased so he moved around the table to sit beside her then cupped her cheek and kissed her. She reluctantly kissed him back because she couldn't help it. He kissed across her cheek then her earlobe.

"I have plenty of sappy dreams about you. Don't worry so much." He whispered in her ear and she was sure if her heart could, it would have skipped a beat.

"Like what?" She asked shyly and he smirked.

"Hmm..." He thought about it. She wanted him to trust her so he was just going to have to do it. "I'll show you." He replied and she looked at him surprised.

"How?" She asked softly.

"Stay over with me tonight." He said brushing a tendril of her hair behind her ear.

"Why?" She asked cocking an eyebrow at him and he chuckled.

"I won't try anything. I just want to show you something." He said and she looked at him for a moment in contemplation.

"Okay." She agreed.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, over at the boarding house, Stefan was just about to leave to go meet Bonnie. He wanted to say something to Dante but he was finding it difficult to bring up. He hovered near the entrance to the library where Dante was reading as he tried to figure out what to say.<p>

"What, Stefan?" Dante asked him looking up from his book. Stefan was annoyed at being caught when he didn't know exactly the best way to word it yet.

"I... uh... heard what you said to Elena." He said and Dante looked surprised then smirked.

"You want to lecture me on threatening to kill her?" He asked amused and Stefan looked visibly surprised. He'd honestly forgotten about that part as his mind over-thought the other part.

"No." Stefan replied and it was Dante's turn to look surprised.

"Then what?" Dante asked curiously.

"You..." Stefan swallowed. "You defended me." He said and Dante was surprised at the realisation. He hadn't even thought about it that way. He looked at his little brother and saw the nerves and the vulnerability written all over his face and for the first time since they turned, Dante didn't want to say something to hurt him. In a way that annoyed him but he just didn't have the energy for it that evening. Stefan saw that Dante seemed to be thinking it over and there had just been silence for over a minute.

"Yeah, well..." Dante started then rolled his eyes. "Don't let it go to your head." He muttered then picked up his book and pretended to read while Stefan couldn't help feeling like he wanted to cry. It was the biggest breakthrough of their relationship in nearly a century and a half.

"Thank you." Stefan said softly and Dante looked up at him again and saw his glassy eyes. Dante knew that Stefan wanted nothing more than to fix their relationship, even just a tiny bit and he saw that the fact he'd done something even a tiny bit brotherly towards Stefan was making Stefan kind of emotional.

"Even you deserve better than the doppelganger." Dante said and Stefan's eyes watered. "Go have fun with your witch, brother." He said and the tears slipped down Stefan's cheeks at Dante calling him 'brother' as he hadn't since they were human. Dante couldn't help feeling a bit bad, but he couldn't bring himself to forgive Stefan yet. But the fact his mind had just said 'yet' made him think that one day maybe, _maybe _he could. Stefan nodded to him then turned on his heel and hurried out of the house and Dante sighed when he heard the door close. "Doesn't mean I don't still love you, Grace." He whispered.

* * *

><p>Damon and Caroline were just getting out of Damon's car when Stefan hurried out of the house with tears streaming down his face and he disappeared in a blink without noticing their presence. Damon sighed while Caroline looked surprised.<p>

"Dante must be home." Damon said and Caroline was instantly concerned.

"You think he's okay?" Caroline asked as they walked towards the house.

"Stefan?" Damon asked.

"No. Dante." Caroline replied and Damon looked surprised.

"Stefan was the one crying." Damon pointed out and Caroline shrugged.

"Dante has every right to be mad at Stefan." Caroline replied curtly and Damon was surprised again at the fact Caroline was so much on Dante's side but he didn't comment as he opened the door and the two of them went inside. Dante was just coming out of the library when he saw the two of them.

"Did you have a fight?" Damon asked him and Dante looked confused.

"With who?" Dante asked.

"Stefan." Damon replied.

"No, why?" Dante asked.

"We just saw him leave bubbling like a baby." Damon replied and Dante sighed.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked him and Dante smiled at her for her instant concern for him and nodded.

"It _may _be possible that in like a hundred years... I might... possibly... forgive Stefan." Dante said and Damon looked kind of shocked while Caroline gave him a sad smile as she sat down next to him in the living room.

"Did you tell him that? Is that why he's crying?" Caroline asked.

"No... not exactly. I just wasn't a dick to him when he asked about the Elena thing." Dante said to Caroline and she understood what he meant.

"You mean where you defended _both _of your brothers?" Damon smirked at him from where he stood at the drinks cart and Dante nodded. Damon had definitely noticed that, he'd chosen not to comment in the hope it might not bring it to Dante's attention too much. He kind of wanted them to be on better terms since he was on better terms with Stefan.

"He seemed to like that." Dante said and Damon chuckled. Damon was internally shocked that Dante was so fine talking about it in front of Caroline but he was starting to think that Dante trusted her almost as much as _him_.

"Well... eternity is a long time, right?" Caroline smiled and Dante chuckled.

"Exactly." He replied.

"Have you ever considered talking to a witch about it?" Caroline asked Dante and Damon's eyes widened thinking Dante wouldn't be at _all _happy about her bringing up Grace.

"About what?" He asked surprised.

"Grace." She replied and he looked at her curiously.

"For what?" He asked curiously and Damon was shocked that Dante was _fine _talking to her about it.

"Well, I know witches can contact spirits. Maybe there's a way you could talk to her." Caroline said and Dante looked surprised. Damon was frozen in place expecting Dante to yell at her and he was pretty sure he nearly fell over in shock when Dante just smiled at her a little.

"It honestly never occurred to me." He said to her.

"I know it would be hard, but maybe if you talked to her, got a chance to say everything you never got to say to her, you might find some peace." She replied and he put his arm around her.

"That's maybe not such a bad idea." He agreed and Damon was beyond stunned.

"Think about it." Caroline smiled. "If you decide you want to, I can talk to Bonnie or if you'd rather she didn't know about it, we can find some other random witch and just bribe her or do a favour for her or something." She said and he chuckled.

"You really are like the best friend ever, aren't you?" Dante said amused and she giggled – Damon was back to being jealous again.

"I try." She winked at him and he smirked.

"It's really too bad that Damon saw you first." Dante said and Caroline wanted to slap him for saying that after she'd said the sister comment earlier and Damon's jaw just dropped. Caroline could only think of one way to contain the inevitable disaster that was possibly about to unfold – snark.

"As if. I don't do married guys." She teased and he laughed. Damon was a little surprised at her hitting out with that.

"Technically, I'm not married anymore." He countered and she looked at him amused. Damon was kind of annoyed at Dante saying that because it sounded almost... flirty.

"You still are in there." She tapped his chest over his heart and he gave her a small smile.

"I suppose." He smirked then turned to look at Damon who didn't look amused. "You better not screw it up because in like ten years if I'm over Grace, I totally _will _go after her if she's single." Dante said pointing to Caroline and Damon looked shocked while Caroline giggled.

"Are you quite done hitting on my girlfriend?" Damon asked him annoyed crossing his arms over his chest and they both laughed.

"Hmm... That's like extra incentive for you to not screw it up." Dante teased and Damon deadpanned at him and they chuckled.

"What makes you think I'd go for you anyway?" Caroline asked Dante amused and Damon smirked at her for that and Dante chuckled.

"Because _I_ am the most romantic Salvatore by far." He said to her then kissed her cheek and Damon was back to looking really irritated while Caroline chuckled. Internally she knew if she wasn't so hung up on Damon she totally _would _go for Dante.

"Are you just _trying _to annoy me?" Damon asked him with narrowed eyes and Dante laughed a little.

"Yes." Dante replied amused and Caroline giggled.

"Why?" Damon asked annoyed.

"Because you're _so _jealous and you need to stop it." Dante replied amused.

"I'm not jealous." Damon muttered and Dante chuckled.

"Just relax and stop worrying so much." Dante said and Damon shot him an annoyed look...


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: I just wanted to reassure everyone that I haven't abandoned any stories. I have been in and out of hospital regularly for the past four months so I haven't had the chance to keep up with everything. I will do my best to get on top of everything asap.

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><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 7

* * *

><p>A short while later, Caroline followed Damon up to his room and Damon was still in a bit of a mood. They'd chatted to Dante for a while but Damon's good mood hadn't returned after Dante's teasing. He was so worried – he <em>loved <em>her and nobody he loved _ever _picked him when they had a choice and he couldn't help the walls going back up. He couldn't help getting defensive. He couldn't help trying to protect himself from the inevitable heartache he'd no doubt feel if he let her in any further. He wondered if he was being dramatic but century and a half habits were hard to break.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked him with a frown after he closed the door. They'd had such a nice time at the Grill and Damon was clearly not in a good mood at _all_.

"Did you like it or something?" Damon asked her annoyed.

"Like what?" She asked confused.

"Attention from Dante." He said and her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She could _not _believe that he just said that.

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"You laughed and I saw you smiling at him." Damon said accusingly and she looked at him annoyed. Caroline kind of wanted to knock him out.

"Wow. You are _such _an ass. I was laughing because unlike you, _I_ could tell that he was just teasing you. But if that's what you think..." She shook her head. "If you are really so damaged from Katherine and Elena that you think _I _need attention from more than one person, you can go screw yourself because that is seriously unfair. I've done nothing to deserve this from you, Damon." She said and Damon realised that he was taking out his frustrations and insecurities on her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." He said and she gave him a sad look. He saw the hurt all over her face and he wanted to kick himself for hurting her _again_.

"Yeah... You did." She said hurt then turned on her heel and left his room.

"Caroline, wait!" Damon exclaimed then sped in front of her down the hall and grabbed her arms trying to stop her from leaving.

"Let me go." She said hurt lacing her tone.

"I didn't mean that." He said sincerely.

"You know, I've never done _anything _to hurt you. You're just looking for problems where there aren't any so you can just think about that while I go home." She said to him as her eyes watered then she sped past him in a blink out the front door before he could catch her.

"Fuck." Damon hissed then punched the wall leaving a big hole where his fist hit.

"For God's sake, Damon, what did you say?" Dante asked appearing from downstairs as he'd heard the last thing Caroline said and his eyes trailed over the big hole in the wall.

"Something I didn't mean." Damon muttered.

"Are you sabotaging your relationship with her on purpose?" Dante asked confused and Damon glared at him.

"No, of course not!" Damon snapped.

"Then what is the problem, Damon?" Dante exclaimed.

"You!" Damon replied without thinking and he saw the hurt radiate all over Dante's face. "No... Dant… I didn't mean to say that..." Damon blinked rapidly to comprehend what he just admitted to the one person he'd _always _been able to trust unconditionally.

"I can't believe you." Dante said and Damon had never seen Dante look at him with so much betrayal. "After everything we've been through together, _one _joking conversation has erased your trust in me? You seriously think that I'd _ever _hurt you?" Dante asked as his eyes watered.

"No! Of course not. I didn't mean it. I swear." Damon said hurriedly.

"You know the sad part, Damon. I don't even know if I believe you." Dante replied. "Maybe you really have become what you always said you had. You really don't trust or love anyone, do you? I always thought that I was excluded from your generalisations when you said you didn't care about anyone but I guess even I didn't escape that." Dante said and Damon shook his head and felt like the walls were caving in on him at the thought of losing Dante.

"I'm sorry, Dante. I swear I didn't mean that. I'm just insecure. I can't lose you. Especially not over a girl." Damon said emotionally.

"I always thought that I was the one person that you would never feel insecure about. That you would never have doubts about me." Dante replied hurt.

"I'm sorry... I just love her and that never works out and I'm just waiting for it to fall down around me." Damon admitted and Dante sighed – he did know Damon after all.

"Yeah, but the difference this time is that you went after a girl who is totally in love with you. You and _only _you." Dante replied and Damon looked at him confused.

"She's not in love with me." Damon replied. "She didn't say it back when I told her." He said and Dante shot him an annoyed look.

"And why the hell would she say it back when all you do is doubt her and push her away?" Dante asked him annoyed.

"Wait – did she tell you that she feels that way?" Damon asked him wide eyed and Dante sighed.

"Yeah." Dante nodded and Damon's jaw dropped. "But if you tell her that I told you that, you will get the ass kicking of a lifetime." Dante warned him and Damon nodded.

"I won't." He replied. "I'm an idiot." He muttered.

"Yeah, you are." Dante replied. "You better think of something _amazing _to make whatever mean thing you said up to her." He said.

"She's not going to forgive me." Damon muttered.

"_What _did you say?" Dante asked annoyed and Damon swallowed. Now that he was out of his annoyance... he realised just how bad what he said was.

"I asked her if she... enjoyed the attention from you." He said guiltily and Dante just stared at him.

"Are. You. Fucking. Joking?" Dante glared at him.

"I know! I'm a horrible asshole! I know." Damon said and Dante clucked his tongue angrily.

"As your brother, I'm really disappointed in you. As her friend, I think she really shouldn't forgive you for that." Dante said shocking Damon.

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"She already thinks that you're still hung up on those identical whores and now you basically just compare her to them? When she's never done _anything _to you?" Dante asked him in disbelief.

"I told you that I didn't mean it! I didn't think when I said it. I know she isn't remotely like that." Damon said and Dante shook his head.

"I love you, Damon, and you know that, but either force yourself to never be mean to Caroline again or let her go because she does not deserve this from you when all she wants to do is love you and make you happy." Dante said annoyed. "You probably really hurt her by saying that so, whether you like it or not, I'm going to go see if she's okay." He said then turned on his heel and sped away in a blink.

Damon slid down the wall and sat on the floor and put his face in his hands. He couldn't believe how much of a complete moron he was. He sat there for a while and couldn't contemplate the thought of losing her now that he had her – he had to prove it... his head snapped up with an idea. He jumped to his feet and hurried down to his room, grabbed a bag, stuffed a few changes of clothes into it then raced out of the boarding house and down to his car.

* * *

><p>Caroline was sitting on her bed staring into space when she heard the tap on her window. She looked over and saw that it was Dante and relief flooded her. She was really glad that it wasn't Damon. She hurried over and opened the window and he jumped inside then hugged her. She hugged him back and her eyes watered again.<p>

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly and she nodded.

"Yeah." She replied as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. They walked over to her bed then sat down across from each other.

"He told me what he said. He was so out of line." Dante said and she nodded.

"I get that he's insecure but so am _I_." She said. "This just makes me think that he's constantly comparing me to them." She said knowing he would know who she meant. Dante sighed as he'd known that would happen.

"I'm not defending him because he's an ass and I yelled at him already, but I don't think he can help comparing you to them because they are his only reference. He hasn't had a single relationship since Katherine and that wasn't a healthy relationship since she was screwing Stefan too. Damon doesn't know how to behave in a relationship." He said and she nodded.

"I get that. I do. I knew that being with Damon was never going to be easy but I just can't walk on eggshells around him all the time _just in case _something annoys him, you know?" She asked and he nodded.

"I know." He agreed. "If it's any help at all, he told me that he knows you're not remotely like that, he didn't mean it and he didn't know why he said it." He said and she sighed.

"What am I supposed to do, Dante? I love him already and I do have quite a lot of patience but not _endless _patience." She said.

"I know that too. Nobody expects you to put up with all of it, you know." Dante said softly. "You have to do what's best for you. I love my brother and there's nothing I'd like more than to see him happy and I really do think you two could be happy together but Damon's... complicated and difficult and the reason he's like that is because when he loves someone, he loves them _so _much that it consumes him. So when someone he loves hurts him it's so much worse because he loves much more deeply than normal people do." Dante explained and Caroline thought about that.

"So is that what this is about? He loves me so much that he just constantly worries that I'll change my mind?" She asked confused and Dante sighed.

"Yeah, basically." Dante agreed. "I think part of the way he protects himself from getting hurt is to hurt who he loves first because that way it's easier to deal with for him because that way when they inevitably leave him, he'll be able to reason that it was because of things he _did_ rather than just because they don't want _him_." He said and Caroline sighed. She thought that was quite heartbreaking in all honesty. "He doesn't think that he'll ever be enough." Dante admitted sadly.

"Is he ever just going to… accept it?" She asked softly. "Will he ever just believe me?"

"I don't think Damon will ever 100% believe that you love him and only want him." Dante admitted. "That's just Damon." He said. "I think he could accept it on some level but he will _always _have doubts. He will _always _worry that he isn't enough. Being with Damon will be hard work and sometimes you'll want to smack him… but nobody will ever love you more than he will." Dante explained. "So, you just have to decide if it's worth it to you." He said and she bit her lip as she thought about that.

* * *

><p>Two days later, Caroline still hadn't heard from Damon. Dante hadn't seen or heard from him either and Caroline really didn't know how to feel about it or where they stood since he just <em>disappeared<em>. She'd spent practically all of her time with Dante as was now the norm when she wasn't with Damon and she cared about him so deeply already. She felt like they'd always been friends. He'd told her a little more about Grace and Caroline really wanted to help him with that. She wanted to just do _something _to make it better. So, she couldn't help herself. She went to see Bonnie.

She knocked on Bonnie's door and the witch smiled at the sight of her.

"Hey, everything okay?" Bonnie asked.

"I… have an odd question." Caroline said and Bonnie nodded for her to continue.

"Ask." Bonnie encouraged.

"Would you ever… let me pay you for a spell?" Caroline asked and Bonnie looked surprised.

"If you need a spell, Care, I'd always help you." Bonnie said. "You don't have to pay me for it." She said.

"Yeah… but… this isn't like a life or death kind of thing and I don't want you to think I'd ever use you and Damon told me that witches often accept payment for spells and I just thought maybe that would be less mean." Caroline said and Bonnie chuckled.

"Don't worry so much, Care. What kind of spell are we talking?" She asked.

"I need to speak to someone who's dead." Caroline said and Bonnie was visibly surprised.

"Who?" Bonnie asked.

"I… uh… can't tell you that." Caroline said and Bonnie looked at her confused.

"Why do you need to speak to this person?" Bonnie asked.

"Personal reasons. It's just a question I need to ask this person." Caroline said and Bonnie looked like she was thinking that over.

"I can put you in an unconscious state and send your mind to meet the person on the spirit plane." Bonnie said. "You'd literally have like a minute to talk to the person, though." She said and Caroline thought about that.

"Could you?" Caroline asked.

"Do you have a belonging or a photo of the person?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah." Caroline replied because she'd swiped Grace's necklace from Dante's room at the boarding house that morning without him noticing.

"As long as the possession or photograph is on you when I do the spell, it'll work." Bonnie said. "I take it you don't want anyone to know about this?" Bonnie asked.

"Exactly." Caroline agreed.

"Alright, come on in." Bonnie said. "But promise me that this isn't a dangerous person." She said as she closed the door.

"I promise." Caroline agreed.

* * *

><p>Bonnie set up the spell and Caroline lay on the floor with Grace's necklace in her pocket. Bonnie chanted and soon Caroline felt like she was being forced to go to sleep. She let herself be put into the unconscious state and soon enough it was like she was in a dream. She was in the woods. She recognised it. It was a place that she and Dante sometimes went a walk to.<p>

"Caroline." She turned around and was faced with the blonde from the photo. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful and Caroline saw her kind eyes and smile.

"Grace." Caroline smiled. "I'm sorry to disturb you." She said sincerely.

"No, not at all. It's wonderful to meet you." Grace smiled. "You are such a good friend to Dante. He is lucky." She said.

"Thank you." Caroline replied softly. "He misses you so much." She said and Grace nodded.

"And I him." She agreed. "I know why you have come to see me. I have been anticipating your visit." She said and Caroline bit her lip.

"Is there a way? Or are you at peace?" Caroline asked her.

"I will never be at peace until Dante is at peace. He is my soul's other half and I cannot truly rest knowing he has such conflict in his soul." She replied solemnly.

"Then tell me a way. There must be a way. I've seen magic do _so _much." Caroline pushed and Grace looked at her in contemplation.

"There is one way that I can come back but it is very dangerous." Grace said. "And neither I nor Dante would ask that of you." She said.

"Grace… Dante needs you. I don't care what it takes. I don't care how dangerous it is. Please tell me how." Caroline said and Grace gave her a sad look.

"It requires a sacrifice from you." Grace said.

"Why me?" Caroline asked confused.

"Because Dante holds two women in his heart. Me… and you." Grace said with a smile and Caroline looked confused.

"I don't understand." Caroline said.

"Dante loves Damon more than anything but you have been a friend to Dante in a way that Damon never could be as you are warm and you embrace emotion whereas Damon does not. You are in Dante's heart as the dearest friend one could have. For me to come back, you and I would need to share a heart." Grace said.

"Would we be bound to each other?" Caroline asked and Grace nodded.

"Yes. If I were to die, you would as well and the same in reverse." Grace said and Caroline thought about that.

"But, I'm a vampire. My heart is dead." Caroline said and Grace nodded.

"As Damon is your sire, he would also need to sire me. I would be brought back but I would only have two or three minutes to live. So in that time, I would need his blood." Grace replied and Caroline nodded as she thought about that.

"But how would we share a heart?" Caroline asked.

"Half of yours would need to be cut out." Grace said and Caroline was visibly surprised.

"Wouldn't that kill me?" Caroline asked.

"No, as there would be a spell in place to guard you from death. There are only a handful of people on the earth who can perform this spell." She said.

"Where do I find such a person?" Caroline asked.

"The closest is in New Orleans. Her name is Candela DuPont. You will find her on Bourbon Street." Grace said.

"Can I trust her?" Caroline asked softly.

"She will do the spell, but it will cost a favour." Grace said. "Damon and Dante would not go along with this plan." She said.

"I know." Caroline replied. "But I will."

* * *

><p>AN: What do you think?


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: Sorry this update took so long, I'm going to try to keep on top of my stories better. Hope you like it :)

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 8

* * *

><p>Caroline did research, she looked through directories, she called people and the day after she'd met Grace on the spirit plane, she found Candela DuPont. She was nervous in all honesty, but she didn't think that Dante's Grace would do something that would put her in serious harm when she loved Dante so much. Caroline had heard so much about her and on the spirit plane, she'd been so nice and sweet, Caroline trusted her. So, when she got a number for Candela, she couldn't help calling immediately.<p>

"_Hello?_" A velvet voice answered.

"Hello, is this Candela DuPont?" Caroline asked.

"_Speaking. Who is this?_" Candela queried.

"This may sound a little strange, but I heard about you from a spirit I spoke to." Caroline disclosed and the woman was quiet.

"_Just a moment._" She bid and Caroline heard her walking, so she figured that she wanted privacy. "_You are in need of magic._" Candela concluded.

"I am. I heard that you are one of only a handful of people that can do the spell that I need." Caroline started.

"_What spell?_" Candela tested.

"A resurrection." Caroline revealed.

"_I see. And would it be your heart?_" She examined.

"Yes." Caroline confirmed.

"_Then you are a vampire?_" Candela checked.

"Yes." Caroline repeated.

"_And what can you offer in return?_" Candela surveyed.

"Whatever you want." Caroline replied honestly.

"_The ingredients will take a couple of weeks to acquire. In return, I require you to find me a werewolf._" She said.

"Dead or alive?" Caroline tested. She really had no clue how she was going to find a werewolf!

"_It must be alive when you bring it to me, however, I will need you to rip out it's heart as I am in need of a still-beating werewolf heart._" Candela explained and Caroline bit her lip at the thought of having to do that – but she would. She'd do it for Dante.

"Alright." Caroline accepted.

"_When did this person pass?_" Candela queried.

"1865." Caroline responded and she whistled at the time frame.

"_I will require the person's skull. More bones if possible as then there is less to be recreated. As this person died so long ago, I will require more ingredients also, so the monetary cost will be $25000 plus my transport to wherever you are._" Candela informed her and Caroline had _no _idea where she was going to get that kind of money.

"That's fine. How do we arrange this then?" Caroline asked.

"_Call me on this number in one week. I will give you an update on my progress with the ingredients, Caroline Forbes._" She said surprising Caroline that she just _knew _her name.

"I will. Thank you." Caroline said sincerely.

"_I can sense that you are different from other vampires. You have only goodness in your soul… why would you do this?_" Candela inquired.

"You know my name, can't you feel this too?" Caroline asked and the witch chuckled.

"_Clever too. I hope this 'Dante' is as good a friend to you in return._" Candela remarked.

"He is." Caroline agreed.

* * *

><p>Caroline wandered into the boarding house that afternoon and found Dante sipping a blood bag while Stefan was looking really concerned.<p>

"Hey, Care." Dante smiled.

"Hey, what's going on?" Caroline queried.

"Have you heard from Damon? He's not picking up his phone." Stefan responded and Caroline shook her head.

"No, not a word." Caroline replied, mild annoyance gracing her tone.

"You're not worried?" Stefan hesitated.

"No." Caroline shook her head again. "He survived for 166 years just fine." She retorted and Dante snickered while Stefan looked surprised at her attitude about him.

"Did you break up?" Stefan asked confused by her reaction.

"Not yet." Caroline answered.

"Are you going to?" Stefan tested sceptically – he knew that Damon was seriously into the blonde and was sure that Damon would be a nightmare if Caroline broke up with him.

"Depends. I may just royally kick his ass instead." Caroline shrugged and they both laughed a little at the thought of that. "Anyway, what are we doing today, Dante-bear?" She asked and he smirked at the name.

"Whatever you want, Goldie." He winked and she giggled.

"Want to have a cheesy movie marathon with lots of blood, booze and junk food?" Caroline suggested and he chuckled.

"Works for me." Dante agreed. "What are you and witchy doing?" He queried Stefan.

"We're going to the travel place to book a vacation." Stefan shrugged.

"Ooh, that'll be fun." Caroline approved. "You know, some luxury suite somewhere would be the perfect place to try out levitation sex." She joked and Dante laughed while Stefan deadpanned at her.

"Not funny." Stefan retorted.

"At least _you _are getting laid. I haven't had sex in like eight months and it sucks." Caroline muttered surprising Stefan that she wasn't sleeping with Damon.

"You haven't with Damon?" Stefan asked confused as he didn't think his brother was the type to 'wait'.

"Nope. His little encounter made that a setback. Though, if he's screwing around while he's away, I _will_ knee him in the nads." Caroline muttered and they snickered.

"Me too." Dante agreed and Caroline giggled while Stefan looked shocked that Dante would take Caroline's side.

* * *

><p>A short while later, Caroline and Dante were sitting next to each other on his bed in his room watching Saturday Night Fever, when Caroline had a thought.<p>

"Can I ask a favour?" She queried.

"Yeah, anything." Dante confirmed.

"Would you teach me how to fresh feed?" Caroline requested surprising him that she still didn't know how.

"Of course." He agreed immediately. "Damon didn't?" He asked confused as he knew that Damon was her sire.

"No, he didn't want me to be his problem when I turned." Caroline admitted and he shot her a sad look – Dante adored his brother, but he really couldn't understand why Caroline put up with his crap.

"He's an ass." Dante said and she chuckled.

"That's for sure. I can't believe he hasn't said a _word _for like four and a half days." Caroline muttered.

"There must be a reason. I don't understand it." Dante sighed.

* * *

><p>Caroline stayed over in 'her' room at the boarding house then in the morning, she made her way downstairs and found Stefan sitting reading a book in the living room. They exchanged pleasantries and chatted a little then Caroline couldn't help herself.<p>

"Can I ask you something?" Caroline queried.

"Uh… sure." Stefan agreed.

"You know when you were with Klaus and he was looking for werewolves?" Caroline tested and Stefan nodded confused as to where she was going with it. "How did he find them?" She inquired and he stared at her sceptically because he had no idea why she would want to know that.

"Why?" Stefan probed suspiciously.

"It's just curiosity and nosiness to be honest." Caroline shrugged. "I just… Katherine told me that vampires can sometimes sense each other and I was just wondering if that's how Klaus found them." She lied and he looked surprised by her explanation as that wasn't what he'd thought she would say.

"No, he just researched areas that had torn up bodies found around the full moon then asked around the area." Stefan described surprising Caroline – that so did not help her at all.

"Fair enough." Caroline accepted.

"Are you looking for a werewolf?" Stefan asked confused, hoping that she would say no.

"No, of course not. I'm not stupid." Caroline replied like it was obvious – though, she wondered if she _was _kind of stupid, considering she'd never met the woman who was supposed to cut out half of her heart. "Had enough werewolf problems to last a lifetime." She remarked and he nodded in acceptance – she was going to half to think of something else because she had to find a werewolf and _fast_.

* * *

><p>Caroline practically stalked the Lockwood property all day waiting for it to be empty. The second that she saw Carol leave the house in her car, she hopped in through the window and bolted up to Tyler's room. It made her sad to be in there, knowing that he died when Klaus died, but she didn't have time to focus on that because she needed to find a way – Carol just thought that he went back to Florida as nobody had wanted to tell her that her only child was dead.<p>

Caroline searched through all of his drawers, his closet, under his bed, behind the book case, she flipped through the books and she was thoroughly frustrated when she found nothing. She'd hoped that coming to his house and going through his room might give her a clue as to the whereabouts of any other packs that he'd heard of. She almost left when she realised that she hadn't looked under his mattress – teenage boys weren't particularly inventive, she decided, when she found a notebook full of names and locations, she was _certain _that it was a werewolf directory, so she took it then got the hell out of there before getting caught as she really had no plausible explanation as to why she would be there.

* * *

><p>Dante had been in his room changing the bed sheets when his phone rang. He picked it up and was surprised to see Damon calling him.<p>

"Where the hell have you been?" Dante answered annoyed.

"_I'll explain later. Can you do me a favour?_" Damon requested.

"Depends what. You're in the bad books, you know." Dante pointed out dryly.

"_I know, I've been trying to fix it._" Damon replied surprising and confusing Dante.

"What do you mean?" Dante tested.

"_I told you that I'd explain later. Can you just get Caroline to the Grill tonight? There's a band playing at 9pm that she needs to see._" Damon said and Dante smirked – he wondered if his brother was attempting to be romantic.

"Fine, but you better have an epic reason." Dante cautioned.

* * *

><p>Caroline had been sitting trying to sort through and figure out the drivel that Tyler had written in the notebook when Dante hopped into her room through her window. She instantly hid the notebook under her pillow and he cocked an eyebrow at her because he saw her do it.<p>

"What are you up to?" He teased mischievously.

"Nothing. You know, just girly diary stuff. People don't get to read that." She tittered and he shot her an amused look.

"You know that you're a horrendous liar, right?" He jibed and she sighed because she did know that. She could lie if she had time to think about the lie but she was terrible at lying on the spot.

"It's not important." Caroline waved her hand unconcerned hoping that he'd let it go – but of course, he was just like Damon in a lot of ways, so of course he didn't.

"It clearly _is _if it's totally top secret." He pointed out, he was a bit worried about her in all honesty.

"I'll tell you if you give me your word that you won't tell Damon or Stefan." Caroline responded.

"I swear." Dante promised.

"I remembered that I left a couple of books at Tyler's house, so I snuck in there earlier and got them and I came across this journal and it's full of details on different werewolf packs. I was just reading over it and trying to figure out where they are, so that we know where to avoid in future, since there's no cure now that Klaus is dead." Caroline explained surprising him as he really hadn't anticipated a response anything like that.

"Well, if you know where they are, it might be a good idea to take them out so that they're not a threat to us." Dante remarked and she nodded because she figured that might be an easy way to get what she needed.

"I figured." She agreed. "But if Damon finds out about it, he'll go all slaughter happy and get himself killed because he just can't seem to help himself." She muttered and Dante chuckled because he knew that his older brother was more reckless than a meticulous planner.

"Well, you and I can just come up with a reasonable plan then." Dante suggested.

"Sure." Caroline agreed with a smile because she was pleased at the turn of events. "You know, it might even be a good idea to kidnap one of them and extort some information out of him." She remarked and he snickered.

"Not a bad idea." He agreed.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She smiled.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out tonight." Dante said.

"Yeah, definitely. Somewhere in mind?" She asked.

"Yeah, there's supposed to be a band playing in the Grill tonight. I figured that we could go there." He proposed.

"Okay, sounds good." Caroline smiled.

* * *

><p>The two of them went through the notebook together and eventually figured out the locations of some of the packs. They decided that they would tell Stefan and Damon – if he ever came back – that they were going away for a few days instead of revealing the real reason then they'd take out the pack and kidnap one of them to get information from him on other packs.<p>

Towards the evening, Caroline got herself dolled up in a beautiful deep red dress then she and Dante headed to the Grill. Dante got them cocktails and they sat in a booth together. They were both in the mood for some human food, so they ordered some dinner. It was a Friday night, so it wasn't long before the Grill was very busy and Bonnie, Stefan and Elena came in and sat down in a different booth as Caroline wasn't speaking to Elena and Elena was kind of afraid of Dante – not that Caroline and Dante wanted their company anyway.

A band played for a little while then at 9pm a different band took the stage. Caroline was paying no attention to the stage but Dante noticed them and was seriously surprised to see them as he recognized him – that is when he understood that Damon had been off tracking them down and compelling them to come to Mystic Falls. He honestly couldn't believe it but he didn't say anything as he was trying not to ruin it. The first song started to play and Dante saw Caroline freeze a little then her head turned to look at the stage and her jaw dropped.

"This song is for Caroline." Scott Stapp, the lead singer of Creed dedicated into the microphone and Caroline was sure that she was going to fall over in shock then he started to sing the words to 'Higher' and the crowd cheered.

"Care." Dante said and Caroline looked at him. He pointed behind her and she took a deep breath then turned her head and saw Damon standing leaning against a wall off to the side out of the way of the crowd and he was watching her in return with a kind of nervous expression – that is when it hit her that the band was there because of him. She was _stunned _that he did that for her, while also seriously melting. She stood up and hesitantly walked over to him and there was no smirk in place, he just looked like he was waiting for her to tell him where to go. Stefan, Bonnie and Elena noticed Caroline walking, so their gazes followed her and they were all surprised to see Damon there as obviously nobody had seen him in almost a week.

"I'm sorry for being a giant ass." Damon apologised when she was finally in front of him and her stomach was fluttering at the fact he'd gone to get the band to play her favourite song to her – she thought that it was the most romantic thing ever.

"That's where you've been? Compelling Creed?" Caroline questioned.

"I didn't compel them." Damon denied and she cocked an eyebrow at him not believing him. "Okay, maybe just a tiny bit." Damon confessed holding up his hand to show a small measurement between his thumb and forefinger and she smiled a little.

"Why?" She tested and he sighed.

"Because I was wrong and I couldn't think of any other way to show you that I'm sorry and I love you." Damon answered and she watched him for a few seconds. She believed him, she did, and she forgave him too. How could she not? She knew that he wasn't one for the romance, she knew that he knew that he was wrong, so she let it go.

"I love you too." Caroline said and Damon's eyes widened a little and it was very obvious in his expression that he hadn't expected her to say that – or to _feel _that.

"You do?" He tested softly and she smirked.

"Yes… though, I'm clearly fucking nuts." She joked and he couldn't help cracking a laugh.

"Yeah, you must be." He agreed amused then he moved his hands to her face and kissed her and she kissed him back as her hands went to hold onto his sides. Dante smiled because he knew then that Damon was clearly gaga for her if he'd do something so openly sweet and romantic when he wasn't a natural at anything like that. Stefan was kind of shocked because that's when it clicked that the band was there because of Damon… that Caroline was the reason that he'd disappeared to get the band. Though he was shocked, he couldn't help being happy about it. He excused himself then went over to the other booth and sat next to Dante who was watching Damon and Caroline fondly.

"Never knew that Damon was such a sap." Stefan quipped and Dante laughed.

"Totally." Dante agreed amused.

"Though, I'm glad that he cares enough about her to do something like that." Stefan disclosed and Dante nodded.

"It's about time. He's been alone long enough." Dante responded.

* * *

><p>AN: Let me know what you think :)


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: Only 3 chapters left after this one :)

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 9

* * *

><p>They watched the rest of the gig together, Damon introduced her to the band and they were both just enjoying being together again. Dante dropped Caroline home as Damon didn't have his car with him then Dante went back to the boarding house. Caroline sat down on her bed and the evening felt incomplete. He'd done the most romantic thing that she'd ever heard of… then the night was just over? She didn't want it to be over. Not yet.<p>

* * *

><p>Damon had just come out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. He wandered over to his closet and pulled out clean boxers. Caroline silently hopped in his window and watched him. The towel fell to the floor, giving her a full view of his gorgeous body from behind then he pulled on the boxers, picked up the towel and turned around. He was visibly surprised to see Caroline there leaning against the open window then he smirked knowing that she'd clearly been watching him.<p>

"What are you doing here?" He queried with curiosity. Caroline slowly stepped up to him until they were face to face… then she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He dropped the towel then his arms slid around her back and he pulled her flush against him, pressing their bodies together in a rather delicious way. Damon returned her kiss passionately then she started walking him backwards towards the bed and he was very much looking forward to where this was going… but he hadn't done the band thing to get into her pants, so he pulled away from the kiss just before they got to the bed and she looked at him confused. "Wait." He bid reluctantly.

"What?" She tested.

"I didn't get Creed here to get you into bed." Damon assured and she giggled because she never in a million years thought that Damon would pass up sex to 'do the right thing'.

"I know." She smiled. "That's not why." Caroline guaranteed.

"It's not?" He tested and she snickered.

"No. But if you'd rather wait…" She teased and he smirked then in a blink she was on the bed with him on top of her and she laughed a little. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She smiled mischievously and he chuckled.

"Are you sure?" He checked, knowing that soon he wouldn't have the brain capacity to really think things through and she smiled and kissed him softly.

"Yes." She confirmed then he kissed her again.

"I love you." He said as he kissed down her neck and she smiled.

"I know. I love you too." She replied and he grinned against her skin then proceeded to show her how much he loved her.

* * *

><p>In the morning, Damon was going for a blood run and since the night before, they couldn't really keep their hands off of each other. They were so wrapped up in kissing each other's faces off that they hadn't even noticed Dante and Stefan sitting in the living room looking highly amused as they hadn't had any idea that Caroline had stayed over, though she clearly had given that she was wearing pyjamas. Damon kissed her all the way to the front door.<p>

"I'll be back in an hour. Don't you go anywhere." Damon purred against her mouth and she snickered then kissed him again.

"Mmm, I won't." She responded. "Now, go, before you rip another perfectly good pair of my pyjamas." Caroline teased and he chuckled then kissed her again. About a minute later he stumbled out the front door and Caroline closed it then wandered back down the hall with kiss swollen lips, flushed cheeks and a grin on her face. "Oh. Uh… morning." She chirped when she saw Stefan and Dante sitting there looking _highly _amused then they finally laughed.

"Neither of you even noticed us." Stefan teased.

"Damon was being _such _a mush bag." Dante joked and Stefan laughed while Caroline giggled.

"I don't care. I _finally _got laid." She quipped happily then slumped down next to Dante and they both laughed loudly at her being so blunt.

"I thought Dante drove you home last night." Stefan remarked amused.

"He did. But I wasn't tired, so I hopped in Damon's window to see if he wanted to watch a movie or something… but he'd just come out of the shower and he was all hot and wet and I couldn't really help myself." Caroline smirked and they shook with laughter.

"That's so funny." Dante commented amused. "By the way, when do you want to go camping?" He asked knowing that she would know that he meant the werewolves.

"Oh… uh…" She thought about it and knew that the full moon was only a few days away. "Next weekend?" She proposed.

"Cool." He accepted.

"Why are you going camping?" Stefan queried sceptically.

"Because Dante-bear hasn't been camping since the last time he went with you and Damon and I've never been camping, so we figured why the hell not?" Caroline answered and Dante chuckled.

* * *

><p>On the following Thursday evening, Caroline and Dante were sitting on her bed facing each other with a map between them and they were marking off areas in West Virginia where they knew the addresses were. They were trying to come up with a logical plan when Damon hopped into her room through the window and they both froze a little wide-eyed at the sight of him. He looked kind of confused as to why Dante was on her bed but he knew better than to comment on that as it hadn't gone so well for him last time.<p>

"What are you doing?" Damon questioned suspiciously because of their expressions and Caroline and Dante glanced at each other.

"Uh…" Caroline trailed off then Damon walked right up to the bed and saw the map with the markings and the piece of notebook paper that said 'other packs' and his jaw dropped.

"You're looking for _werewolves_?" He asked the two of them in disbelief.

"It's kind of a long story." Caroline muttered.

"Explain." Damon demanded annoyed. "Is this what your 'camping trip' is about?" He probed in incredulity.

"Yeah, bro. We're going to take them out." Dante admitted.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this?" Damon probed infuriated.

"Because you're reckless and you'll get yourself killed?" Caroline responded like it was obvious and he shot her a look for her response.

"How could you purposely go after werewolves? You've been _tortured _by them before!" Damon exclaimed like she was insane.

"Because it's better for vampires in general if werewolves die." Caroline answered like he should really know that already.

"Yes, I agree with that, but why the hell are you doing this behind my back?" Damon pushed the two of them irritated.

"Caroline found Tyler's journal with the other packs and asked me not to tell anyone." Dante explained.

"But why _lie_?" Damon examined the two of them annoyed.

"It's not really a lie. We _will _be camping." Caroline pointed out and Damon crossed his arms over his chest because that really wasn't an explanation.

"Why did you tell Dante and not me?" Damon asked frankly – trying not to feel hurt over that.

"Because you were off compelling Creed and he happened to jump into my room when I was going over the journal." Caroline answered and he looked even more confused.

"Wait – you were going to hunt them _alone_?" Damon scrutinized in disbelief and she rolled her eyes.

"No." Caroline denied.

"Then why were you going over the journal?" Damon pushed.

"To see what areas to avoid." Caroline lied and Damon's eyes narrowed.

"You're lying." Damon observed and she shot him a look for knowing her that well.

"I just need a werewolf for something. It's not important." Caroline blurted and Dante looked at her surprised.

"I knew that there was another reason." Dante remarked. "That's why you want to kidnap one of them." He noted.

"You want to kidnap a _werewolf_?" Damon asked in amazement that she could be so foolish. "Are you nuts? Every pack in the area will hunt them down." He pointed out and she sighed.

"Can we just drop this already?" Caroline requested annoyed.

"No, Care, werewolves are dangerous. Why do you need a werewolf?" Dante pushed.

"What aren't you saying?" Damon piped up.

"Stop ganging up on me." Caroline cautioned and they both looked like they felt bad because they hadn't meant to do that.

"We're not. We're just concerned." Dante lulled.

"Well, we don't need to know _everything _about each other." Caroline pointed out and they both deadpanned at her knowing that she was keeping it from them for a reason.

"That's a crap answer." Damon commented.

"Fine." Caroline muttered. "But you're going to be mad at me." She said to Dante who looked surprised that she meant him in particular.

"Why would I be mad at you?" He asked confused.

"Because I looked into a resurrection spell." Caroline confessed and their jaws practically hit the floor in understanding.

"What?" Dante gasped.

"I was going to tell you nearer the time but there are only four witches in the whole world that can do it properly and the one I found wants a werewolf for payment." Caroline elaborated.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Dante tested in disbelief and Caroline nodded.

"I've never met anyone that I just instantly clicked with the way I do with you. I just want you to be happy… and I could only think of one way that you would be." Caroline said sadly and they were both gaping at her.

"Does Bonnie know about this?" Damon tested blankly – shocked that she cared _that _much about Dante already.

"No. Nobody knows about this." Caroline assured.

"I looked into resurrection spells. I never found one. How did you?" Dante asked wide-eyed and she looked at him hesitantly.

"Do I really have to answer that?" Caroline bit her lip.

"Yes." Damon nodded and she sighed.

"I went to the spirit plane and Grace told me." Caroline admitted and they both nearly fell over in shock.

"You spoke to Grace?" Dante whispered while his eyes glazed and Caroline nodded. "Well… what… how… uh…" He blinked for coherence. "What did she say?"

"She's always been with you." Caroline replied softly and he put a hand over his eyes because he was sure that he was going to cry. "She's worried about you. She wants to come back and be with you, so when she told me about it, I had to arrange it. I had to at least try." She added and he wiped his eyes while Damon put a hand on his brother's shoulder to comfort him.

"Spells like that are dark magic, Caroline. How _exactly _is this done?" Damon inspected and Caroline was _not _telling them about the heart.

"I don't really know. All I know is that the witch needs a while to get the ingredients together." She answered.

"When did you find out about this?" Damon asked.

"The day after you left to go get Creed." Caroline answered shocking them as it had been almost two weeks ago.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Dante queried confused.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up in case I couldn't find a werewolf or something else got in the way." Caroline responded apologetically and he nodded slightly because he could see the logic in that.

"So, spirit Grace told you about it?" Damon asked for confirmation.

"Yes. She told me about the spell, told me the name of the witch I had to find, where I could find her and promised that it would work." Caroline confirmed.

"And all the witch wants is a werewolf?" Damon asked sceptically as he didn't really believe that.

"Well… that and some money but I have that covered already." Caroline answered.

"How much money?" Damon examined.

"$25000." Caroline responded.

"Where'd you get that?" Damon queried and she bit her lip.

"I may have possibly compelled a gangster to give it to me." Caroline admitted guiltily and they both couldn't help a chuckle at that because it was obvious that she felt bad about doing that and they thought that she was too cute.

"You swear this will work?" Dante asked her softly and it was all over his face that he was desperate for it to work.

"I swear." Caroline promised.

"Then what do you need?" Dante asked.

"The witch needs her bones so that her body can be recreated." Caroline revealed apologetically knowing that it would be hard for him to think about that.

"She's buried in the woods." Dante divulged.

"But neither of you can tell Bonnie about this. She will go _nuts_." Caroline cautioned.

"Obviously we're not going to tell her that." Damon retorted.

"So, when is this happening?" Dante asked.

"As soon as I have the werewolf." Caroline answered.

"Tonight?" Dante tested.

"Full moon tonight." Caroline reminded him and he sighed.

"Sorry… I just…" Dante trailed off.

"I know." Caroline replied caringly.

"So, the witch is just going to come here once you have the werewolf?" Damon verified.

"Yes." Caroline nodded.

"What does she need a werewolf for?" Damon tested.

"No idea. Didn't ask." Caroline replied.

"How do you know that this witch isn't a danger?" Damon queried.

"I doubt your sister-in-law would tell me about her if she was." Caroline pointed out dryly. "You're being silly, Damon." She noted and Dante chuckled because he couldn't help it while Damon rolled his eyes.

"Will she be able to turn?" Dante queried.

"She'll have to." Caroline admitted. "She can't be brought back and stay human. Grace explained to me that she'll only be alive and human for about a minute, so she'll have to drink vampire blood in that minute." Caroline explained.

"So, she's okay with turning?" Dante tested.

"Yeah, of course." Caroline nodded.

"Fine, we'll get the damn werewolf but I'm coming." Damon guaranteed and she deadpanned at him. "What's that look about?"

"I'm not a damsel, you know." Caroline retorted and they both snickered.

"No-one said that you're a damsel, but three vampires are better than two." Damon smirked and she sighed then slumped back against the headboard.

"I hate being a baby vamp." Caroline muttered and they both laughed loudly at her little pout. "Fine, you can come but you have to promise me that you're not going to go all 'Damon' when we're there." She cautioned and they were shaking with laughter at that.

"And what does that mean, beautiful?" Damon tested with amusement.

"You know, going all recklessly slaughter happy on them all." Caroline clarified and they laughed.

"Why?" Damon queried amused.

"If you don't promise me that, I'll vervain you and tie you up when you least expect it." Caroline stated and they snickered.

"I promise." Damon remarked entertained by his little blonde.

"You're an ass." Caroline noted and they laughed.

"I know." Damon winked at her and she rolled her eyes at him making them chuckle.

* * *

><p>On the Saturday night, they checked out the closest address and the house was abandoned, so they kept going to the next one. When they got there, the house had like twelve people in it, so they decided to skip that one as well and moved on to the next one. When they finally got to the third house, it was quite secluded for which they were happy. They watched and waited until a man who appeared to be around 25 walked out of the front door with a trash bag. He went over to the garbage can and stuffed the bag into it then turned around and was faced with Caroline. He cocked his head to the side then sniffed in a little air.<p>

"Vampire." He observed and her expression turned to one of scepticism.

"What are you? A bloodhound?" Caroline quipped and Damon and Dante couldn't help a chuckle which made the guy spin around to see Damon and Dante side by side behind him.

"What's going on?" The man asked wide-eyed then Caroline stuck him in the arm with a wolfsbane dart that also contained a tranquilizer and he groaned in pain then slumped to the ground unconscious. Damon picked him up over his shoulder just as another guy hurried out of the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" He raged and Caroline figured that she might as well practice, so just as he got there, before Damon and Dante could do anything, her hand entered the guy's chest and she pulled then he dropped to the ground and Damon and Dante were visibly surprised that she did that.

"Eww!" Caroline complained revolted then dropped the heart and they couldn't help a laugh at her reaction and how disgusted she looked.

"It _is _pretty nasty the first time." Dante remarked amused.

"I really didn't think that one through." Caroline muttered as she looked at her blood drenched hand and they were shaking with laughter at her being such a diva about it. "I'll be back in a minute." She mumbled then wandered up to the house and went inside and they were highly entertained.

"Vampire grossed out by a little blood." Damon joked and Dante snickered.

"She's awesome." Dante noted entertained and Damon chuckled. Caroline reappeared about a minute later with clean hands and a six pack of beer. "Why'd you take their beer?" Dante asked charmed.

"Not like they're going to drink it." Caroline quipped and they laughed loudly. Dante poured some lighting fluid on the dead werewolf then lit a match and dropped it on the body then they went back to the car. Damon tied the still alive werewolf up then stuffed him into the trunk. Caroline got into the front seat next to Damon then got out her phone and sent a text to Candela.

_I have the wolf._

It wasn't even 30 seconds later that she received a reply.

_I'll be there on Monday._

* * *

><p><em>AN: Let me know what you think :)_


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: Only a couple of chapters left :)

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><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 10

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><p>On the Sunday night, Caroline was walking up the driveway towards the front door of the boarding house when Dante appeared in front of her. Damon had been coming home through the woods after checking that Grace's burial place was still there, but he stopped when he saw his brother appear in front of Caroline, so that he could watch. Dante had a serious expression on his face and Damon was curious about what he was going to say because Dante rarely wore that expression.<p>

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hey. I need to talk to you." Dante started and she nodded for him to continue. "I have no idea how to thank you, this means so much to me and I'll be forever grateful." Dante disclosed sincerely and she smiled.

"You don't need to thank me." Caroline shook her head.

"I do." Dante nodded. "I just…" He trailed of then cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her. Damon's jaw dropped then Caroline pulled back and crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him unimpressed.

"You could have just said 'thank you' and refrained from the kissy thing." Caroline stated dryly and Dante chuckled – Damon was kind of amused by her saying that too.

"I'm sorry." Dante apologised with a smile – though, it was obvious that he wasn't sorry.

"You're _sorry_?" Caroline tested annoyed.

"Fine, I'm not sorry." Dante admitted and she deadpanned at him – Damon was kind of confused too. "I just wanted you to know that, aside from Damon, you're the best friend that I've ever had. I care about you so much. And… to be entirely honest… you're the only girl I've ever had feelings for after Grace." He admitted and Damon's eyes bugged because he couldn't believe that Dante had feelings for Caroline of all people!

"Dante… I love _Damon_." Caroline pressed and he nodded while Damon's stomach fluttered.

"I know you do." Dante smiled. "And I want you to. I'm about to get my wife back and it's my dream come true. I just wanted to kiss you once." He acknowledged and she sighed.

"Fine, but do it again and I'll smack you." Caroline warned and he laughed while Damon cracked a smirk at her fire.

"Understood." Dante smiled.

"Oh, and this didn't happen. You said thank you and that's it. I do _not _want more problems with Damon just because you Salvatores can't seem to control yourselves around your brothers' girlfriends." Caroline cautioned and Damon and Dante shook with laughter at her being so blunt, though Damon's was silent so that he wouldn't give himself away.

"Got it." Dante chuckled and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Ugh." Caroline huffed then walked passed him into the house, closing the door behind her and Dante was highly amused.

"I should really punch you." Damon quipped as he walked towards the house again and Dante snapped his head to look at him.

"You were there the whole time?" Dante tested and Damon nodded. "I'm not going to do anything." He assured sincerely and Damon chuckled.

"You heard the lady, she said she'd smack you if you do." Damon remarked amused and Dante snickered.

"You pissed?" Dante examined and Damon shook his head.

"No. She's amazing. I get it." Damon responded.

"You still going to punch me?" Dante tested and Damon smirked.

"Obviously." Damon confirmed then punched him but not all that hard and Dante shot him an amused look.

"We good now?" Dante examined.

"Mmhmm." Damon nodded.

* * *

><p>Damon wandered up to his room and found Caroline brushing her teeth in his bathroom.<p>

"What are you doing?" Damon queried amused though he knew.

"Uh… brushing my teeth." Caroline answered.

"Why?" He smirked.

"Because I want a clean mouth?" Caroline asked like it was obvious and he laughed a little.

"Uhuh." Damon nodded. "Not because Dante kissed you?" He tested and her eyes bugged.

"He told you that?" Caroline gasped in disbelief and he shook his head.

"No. I saw it." Damon refuted and she sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that he was going to do that." Caroline stated truthfully and he nodded.

"I know. I punched him. We're all good." Damon noted and she looked surprised.

"You're not mad?" She asked and he walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist then leaned his chin on her shoulder.

"No, I'm not mad. It's so easy to love you." Damon responded and she smiled while her stomach fluttered.

"I just want _you _to love me." Caroline countered and he kissed her cheek.

"I do." He promised and she leaned back against him.

"So… you heard what he said?" She tested and he nodded. "I don't feel that way back." She guaranteed – internally, he was mildly surprised.

"At all?" He tested and she shook her head.

"No. It's just you." Caroline vowed and he smiled and kissed her cheek again.

"Do you want to go on vacation for a week somewhere? Dante and Grace will need some time." Damon said.

"Getting you to myself for a week does sound great." She smiled and he chuckled.

"Mmhmm." He agreed as he kissed down her neck and his hands slipped up the front of her top.

"Let me finish my teeth." Caroline giggled and he smirked at her through the mirror.

"I'll go have a quick shower." Damon advised amused.

"Why?" She asked sceptically and he chuckled then leaned down to her ear.

"Because you apparently can't help yourself when I'm all hot and wet." Damon purred and she laughed understanding that one of them told him that.

"Your brothers suck." Caroline teased and he winked at her.

* * *

><p>Dante wandered into the library and saw Stefan sitting with a book. Stefan looked up at him and looked confused.<p>

"Did you cut your lip?" Stefan tested and Dante smirked as he wandered over and got himself a drink.

"No, Damon punched me." Dante disclosed and Stefan looked surprised.

"Why?" Stefan examined because Dante and Damon hardly ever fought and certainly didn't come to blows. Dante just laughed a little as he sat down.

"I kissed Caroline." Dante smirked and Stefan's jaw fell open.

"Why?" Stefan gasped.

"Because I have feelings for her." Dante remarked amused and Stefan blinked rapidly.

"Damon saw it?" Stefan asked and Dante nodded and Stefan's eyes bugged at the thought of that, knowing that Damon loved her already. "Did she kiss you back?"

"No." Dante chuckled. "She told me if I ever do it again, she'll smack me." He admitted and Stefan chuckled because he knew that Caroline loved Damon back already.

"Is Damon mad at you?" Stefan tested.

"Nah, we're good. I'm not going to pursue her and he knows that. I just wanted one kiss." Dante answered surprising Stefan.

"Are you going to if they break up?" Stefan queried and Dante laughed.

"They're never going to break up, Stef." Dante denied and Stefan was surprised that Dante thought that Damon and Caroline were clearly a permanent couple. He was particularly shocked at Dante calling him 'Stef' but he didn't comment because he desperately wanted his brother back.

* * *

><p>Caroline fibbed to the boys and told them that she'd be meeting the witch just before midnight, but she wouldn't be. Damon told her where Grace was buried and she checked it out on the Monday morning, just so that she would be sure of the location. Caroline was really nervous but Dante had been lighter since she told him and she knew that he couldn't wait, so that made her sure that she had to do it.<p>

But, she knew that she had to get them out of the way first, she knew that they wouldn't let her do it if they came with her. So, in the afternoon, she vervained Dante when he was least expecting it and tossed him in the cell next to the cell where they had the werewolf then she went back upstairs and it wasn't long before Damon appeared. She went up to him and put her arms around his neck then kissed him.

"What was that for?" Damon smirked then his smirk fell when she saw her serious expression.

"I love you." She said so sincerely – that's when he clicked that she was about to do something dangerous.

"Caroline." Damon started then she winced and snapped his neck and he passed out. Caroline set him down on the couch then fished out the vial from her back, bit his wrist and let his blood pour into the vial. She did it twice, just in case then put the vial away in her bag. She knew that he would heal really fast, so she stuck him with a vervain dart as well then carried him down to where Dante was and set him in there as well. She'd already given the werewolf a sedative as she'd be taking him to the witch alone.

* * *

><p>Dante's eyes fluttered open and he saw that he was in the cell and he groaned at the burn of vervain. He spotted Damon lying next to him and he shook him until Damon's eyes opened too.<p>

"What the hell?" Damon complained.

"What's going on?" Dante groaned.

"She vervained us." Damon concluded.

"I'm sorry." They heard then pushed themselves up to a seated position and saw Caroline standing on the other side of the bars at the window.

"What are you doing, Caroline?" Damon fumed.

"I know what the witch has to do." Caroline stated sadly. "And you wouldn't let me do it, Damon." He said and their eyes bugged.

"What do you mean? _You _have to do something?" Dante questioned alarmed and she nodded.

"Why?" Damon probed in disbelief.

"There has to be a balance." Caroline answered.

"What?" Damon gasped. "You can't give up your life for hers!" He exclaimed.

"Caroline, it's been a very long time… I'll get over it. Don't do this." Dante pushed surprising them both a little.

"I'm not giving up my life for hers… My life will be bound to hers." Caroline clarified and they looked shocked.

"No!" Damon exclaimed.

"Hence why you two are staying in there." Caroline pointed out. Damon weakly got up to his feet because she'd given him one hell of a dose of vervain then hurried up to the bars.

"Don't do it, Caroline. Please." Damon pleaded while staring into her eyes.

"I have to." Caroline replied softly and Damon felt like he was going to lose it.

"How is she going to bind you?" Damon probed while his eyes watered.

"You don't want to know." Caroline replied and his jaw clenched.

"Tell me." He pushed and she sighed.

"The witch has to cut out my heart." Caroline answered and their eyes practically fell out of their heads. "I have to go."

"No, you can't do this." Dante proclaimed.

"I love you." Caroline whispered to Damon then she was gone and he punched the door.

"Caroline! Get back here!" Damon yelled through the bars.

"What are we going to do? We have to get out of here and stop her!" Dante exclaimed.

"Do you have your phone?" Damon asked as he searched his own pockets then Dante did the same.

"No." Dante denied stricken at the thought that there was nothing to do to stop her.

"Fuck!" Damon raged.

* * *

><p>Caroline had the sedated werewolf in the trunk of her car then she drove into the woods as Candela had told her that she would go to the location in the woods where Caroline met Grace on the spirit plane as she'd sensed that from Caroline. She parked her car then carted the werewolf through the woods until she came to the clearing and found a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, with almond eyes, pouty lips, ebony curly hair and chocolate skin.<p>

"Hello, Caroline." Candela greeted.

"Hello, Candela." Caroline replied.

"I sense that you are sceptical." Candela noted with a smile.

"I'm just nervous." Caroline admitted. "I don't know you. You could kill me." She added shyly.

"But I will not. This is a business transaction for me. It will take one week for her body to regenerate. I can sense that you are honest with your intentions, but since you do not have that power, you can pay me when Grace has transitioned." Candela assured and Caroline nodded.

"Might as well do the werewolf now." Caroline shrugged.

"Very well." Candela agreed.

"I'm going to be dead for a week, aren't I?" Caroline tested and Candela nodded.

"You will be buried with her bones and the earth will bring her back and bind you." Candela explained and Caroline sighed – she knew that Damon and Dante were going to be _pissed_. She didn't even have her phone with her to let them know.

"Okay. I'll take you to where she's buried." Caroline agreed.

* * *

><p>They walked through the woods for about twenty minutes to the site where Grace was buried. Candela held her hands out over the earth. Caroline watched the bones surface and she gulped a little – it was really happening. Once that was done, Candela opened a large empty jar and held it out to Caroline while motioning to the werewolf. Caroline took a deep breath – Candela had already told her that she'd spelled the jar to keep the heart beating – then she stuck her hand into the man's chest, pulled out his heart and dropped it into the jar then tossed his body into the nearby creek while Candela closed the jar then set it on the ground.<p>

Caroline watched as Candela set a large sheet of muslin on the ground then levitated Grace's bones onto the material in the centre. She set down a second sheet of muslin then told Caroline to lie down on it. Caroline gave her the large vial with Damon's blood to give to Grace when she awakened then she lay down on the ground. Candela gave her a sedative to dull the pain and Caroline closed her eyes because she didn't want to see it happen. The witch put a protection spell on her to keep her from dying for real then took out a knife and plunged it into Caroline's chest and the blonde screamed.

* * *

><p>"Stefan!" Damon yelled – they'd been calling for him for over half an hour, praying that they wouldn't be too late.<p>

"Stefan!" Dante yelled as well then Stefan appeared at the door as he'd just come home.

"What the hell are you two doing in there?" Stefan gasped in disbelief.

"Let us out! Caroline's off to do something dangerous!" Damon exclaimed then Stefan instantly opened the door. They both darted to the blood fridge, downed a blood bag each then took off up the stairs with Stefan behind them, wanting to see what the hell was going on.

* * *

><p>Candela put half of Caroline's heart in the position where it would be under Grace's bones then wrapped the muslin up and carried it deeper into the woods, hoping to find an energy rich area to bury the two of them in for the best results. She found an optimum spot near the water with many trees and bushes then she started to sink Grace into the ground.<p>

* * *

><p>Damon, Stefan and Dante raced through the woods heading to Grace's burial place. The three of them froze when they got there and both Damon and Dante burst into tears. Stefan was just beyond shocked.<p>

"No!" Damon exclaimed as he fell to his knees next to Caroline's dead and greyed body. Her chest was soaked in blood and they could see the jar with a still-beating heart in it next to a tree, so they presumed that it was hers. They presumed that the witch had just wanted the heart of a vampire and had lied about the resurrection to get it.

"She's dead." Dante hyperventilated. "She can't be dead." He sobbed brokenly.

"I'm going to kill that witch." Damon whispered as he ran his hand down her face and he felt like the walls were caving in on him.

"What witch? What the hell is going on?" Stefan questioned emotionally.

"Me." Candela said as she re-entered the clearing and Damon and Dante's faces changed and they darted towards her – then all three of them grabbed their heads in pain and groaned and she kept it going until they passed out on the ground. She didn't have that much energy left, so she knew that she was going to have to act fast. She wrapped Caroline up in the muslin then levitated her body quickly through the woods until she got to the spot where Grace was then sunk her into the ground. She hurried back to the clearing, picked up the jar with the werewolf heart then ran through the woods to her rental car and drove to the hotel she was staying at for the week that was five miles outside of Mystic Falls.

* * *

><p>Damon's eyes opened first then he sat up and looked around – she was gone, as was the heart and the witch and he'd never felt so murderous in his life. Dante woke up next and Damon stared at him.<p>

"We have to hunt this witch down." Damon declared emotionally and Dante nodded.

"No doubt." Dante agreed, his eyes welling again. "I can't believe she's dead." He whispered with a tear spilling down his cheek. Damon couldn't hold it off any longer and he buried his face in his hands and cried. Dante sobbed as well then moved over to Damon and hugged him and they were both just so devastated…

* * *

><p>AN: Let me know what you think :)


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: This is the last chapter and the next one will be the epilogue. Hope you enjoy it and I'll try to get more updates out for other stories ASAP. :) Thanks for reading :D

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><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 11

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><p>Damon and Dante spent half of the following week drunk and in tears, and the other half searching for the witch in a rage. Bonnie was on board to kill the witch since Candela killed Caroline. Bonnie was beyond distraught too at the thought of this shady witch murdering her best friend – nobody knew what they were going to do once they succeeded in getting their revenge. They were barely coping as it was. Damon hadn't told Liz yet. He didn't know <em>how <em>to tell her that, so he was avoiding her at all costs and cancelling her calls.

Once the week was up, Candela went back to the burial site and unearthed them. She lay them side by side then completed the last part of the spell on Grace's now fully formed body. Grace's eyes fluttered open and Candela looked at her, knowing that she had to ask for her permission first.

"Do you accept the turning, Grace?" Candela asked softly and Grace nodded.

"Yes." Grace whispered hoarsely. Candela pulled out the vial and held it to Grace's lips and she swallowed down Damon's blood as she had to have the same sire as Caroline had.

"Now, relax." Candela soothed and a minute later Grace was gasping for breath as her body shut down then she died again.

* * *

><p>Caroline's eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a gasp. It was dark and she felt like she was starving. Felt like she'd been asleep forever. She saw Candela in front of her then she turned her head and saw Grace sitting there next to her with a smile.<p>

"Thank you, Caroline. I could never thank you enough for what you did to help me." Grace said softly, meaning every word from the bottom of her heart.

"I'm so glad to see you." Caroline grinned and Grace grinned back because she already cared a great deal for her through watching her be such a good friend to Dante. "Thank you, Candela." She acknowledged.

"You are welcome, though your boys saw you dead. They are looking for me to kill me." Candela advised and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Drama queens." Caroline remarked and they giggled. She put her hand in her pocket then pulled out a piece of paper. "That's the cheque." She handed it to Candela who saw that it was for $30000 instead.

"That is more than what I asked for." Candela pointed out and Caroline nodded.

"I was hoping that you'd make Grace a sun ring." Caroline disclosed and Candela chuckled and put her hand in her pocket then pulled out a ring.

"I already did." Candela advised and they both smiled.

"Thank you so much, Mrs DuPont. I am forever grateful for all of your help." Grace said sweetly and Candela smiled and gave her the ring then Grace pulled it on.

"We'll need to get you some clothes and showers." Caroline remarked as Grace was just wrapped in the dirty muslin.

"I was wondering if you would help me, Caroline. Dante is used to the way that modern women look…" Grace said shyly and Caroline grinned in understanding – she _loved _doing makeovers!

"You got it." Caroline chirped happily.

* * *

><p>Candela left to go home to New Orleans and Caroline promised to get the boys to stop their search for her. Caroline took Grace home to her house as Bonnie had once arranged that Caroline could invite vampires in too, so she invited Grace in then they went down to her room. Caroline got them each a glass of blood and they drank it down. Grace was just a tiny bit smaller than Caroline, so her clothes would fit her without much issue.<p>

They each had a shower then Caroline dressed Grace in black skinny jeans, dark green heels, a lovely mint green fitted top to match Grace's eyes and a grey-blue zip sweater. She made up her face with soft grey smoky eye makeup black mascara and a soft nude on her lips. Caroline straightened Grace's long dark blonde hair then she got herself dolled up too. The two girls were getting along swimmingly and Grace had said to her several times that she was so thankful and would be in her debt forever – Caroline just wanted Dante to happy. Caroline made Grace promise her that she wouldn't tell the boys that Grace knew about the ingredients for the spell, knowing that they'd be pissed at her.

Once they were ready, Caroline drove them over to the boarding house and parked about a hundred yards away so that the boys wouldn't hear them coming, they wanted to surprise them after all...

* * *

><p>Damon, Stefan, Dante and Bonnie were sitting around the couches going through directories, searching online, Bonnie was going through spell books. Damon and Dante were drunk too because it was almost 11pm and they were both in foul moods as was now the norm.<p>

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Damon fumed.

"She's cloaked herself or something." Bonnie sighed. "I'm trying to find a way past it but she's clearly ridiculously powerful." She added annoyed.

"Well, we need to fucking find her." Dante retorted.

"I know, Dante." Bonnie replied sadly… then the boarding house door opened and all of them were confused as to who it would be. They looked up then a familiar blonde came into view and all of their jaws dropped.

"Caroline." Damon gasped in disbelief and she smiled.

"Oh, Dante?" Caroline smirked. "You have a visitor." She teased then turned her head to the side and held out her hand. They all saw another hand go into Caroline's then she stepped into view and Damon, Dante and Stefan were sure that they were going to faint.

"Oh my God." Dante exhaled in disbelief then he burst into tears.

"Hello, my darling." Grace smiled.

"Told you it would work." Caroline smirked and the boys just looked so unbelievably stunned – as did Bonnie. She was beyond shocked that magic could bring someone back who'd been long dead. "Don't you think that you should kiss her or something?" She teased Dante then in a blur he was wrapped around Grace and she was hugging him back tightly while they both cried at the fact they were reunited after almost 146 years apart. Damon was just _staring _at Caroline. He'd gone a whole week believing that she was dead – it was the worst week of his life. Damon stood up and Caroline walked over to him shyly seeing his outraged expression.

"I am _so _pissed at you." Damon fumed and she winced – she realised that she could have handled it better but the end justifies the means... didn't it?

"But it worked." She countered and he glared at her then before she could say anything else, he crashed his lips to hers and kissed her with such urgency, Caroline couldn't help pulling him closer. Dante and Grace disappeared upstairs to his room together then Caroline hugged Bonnie tightly – she was crying at the sight of her now not dead best friend too – then Stefan because he was just shocked that not only Caroline was alive, but _Grace _too.

"You're an idiot! Do you know how dangerous this could have been? You let some stranger cut out your heart? Are you insane?" Bonnie shrieked at Caroline who rolled her eyes.

"Will you relax? I'm _fine_." Caroline waved her hand unconcerned. "Besides, it wasn't my whole heart, only half." She detailed.

"Then whose heart was in the jar?" Stefan examined confused and Caroline sighed.

"The werewolf's." Caroline admitted shocking them.

"Why? What did that have to do with the spell?" Damon interrogated.

"Nothing. It was her payment. She wanted a still-beating werewolf heart in exchange." Caroline explained. "She took that home with her."

"Stuff like that is used for _very _dark magic, Caroline." Bonnie stated nervously.

"So what? I really don't care. _Our _spell worked. Why continue to worry about it?" Caroline queried.

"I'm still going to look into spells that require that as an ingredient. What if she wants to do something really dangerous?" Bonnie questioned.

"I think you're worrying too much." Caroline remarked.

"I think she still needs to be taken out." Damon stated.

"No." Caroline glared at him. "She brought Grace back and _I_ am _fine_. She's not going to do anything to us."

"Caroline, if she can bring a woman back to life that has been dead for almost 150 years, she is _seriously _dangerous." Bonnie pushed.

"You're all being hypocritical, Bonnie. _You _can kill any of us at any time, but you _won't_. Stefan has been a _ripper _several times throughout his long life, but he won't be again. Damon's killed half of the town, but he won't again. I've killed a couple of people too, but I won't again." Caroline pointed out and all three of them rolled their eyes at her because they knew that she had a point. "She could have killed you when you found me dead, but she didn't. Leave her alone." Caroline cautioned Damon and he sighed.

"Fine, but we should still keep an eye on her." Damon remarked.

"Definitely." Stefan agreed.

"I'm going to try to contact my ancestors again. See if they know anything." Bonnie added.

"This is ridiculous. She did a hugely amazing thing and everyone's accusing her of being bad." Caroline replied annoyed.

"But the dead aren't supposed to be brought back to life, Caroline. It goes against the balance." Stefan pushed and Caroline narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, I wouldn't have had to do this if you hadn't killed her in the first place, so shut the hell up, Stefan." Caroline glared and he winced while Damon and Bonnie looked surprised that Caroline would say something like that – she was blunt, yes, but not _that _blunt. "Anyway, losing half of my heart then being dead for a week seriously tired me out. I need sleep." She disclosed.

"Come on then." Damon said caringly then put his arm over her shoulders and the two of them went upstairs to his room. They could vaguely hear Dante and Grace crying and talking and both of them were glad that Dante had her back.

* * *

><p>Caroline changed into her pyjamas and Damon stripped down to his boxers then they climbed into his bed together and Damon pulled her so close that she was practically squashing him.<p>

"God… I missed you so much. I thought that you were dead. It was the worst week of my life." Damon said emotionally against her neck and she rubbed his back.

"I didn't know that it would take a week until I met her." Caroline responded apologetically.

"Please don't do anything that reckless ever again." He whispered against her skin and she shook her head.

"I won't." She promised.

"What does this exactly mean now? If Grace dies, you die?" Damon questioned and she nodded.

"Yup and if I die, Grace dies. We just need to be careful." Caroline concluded and he sighed.

"Dante and I will just have to make sure that nothing ever happens to either of you." Damon remarked.

"Nothing's going to happen. Relax." Caroline bid and he kissed her neck and cheeks and lips.

"I love you." Damon said and she smiled.

"I love you too." Caroline replied.

"Marry me." Damon bid and she cracked a giggle.

"No." She denied amused.

"No?" He tested sceptically and she ran her hand through his hair.

"You're just emotional because I just came back from the dead. I'm not going anywhere. I love you and I'm not going to leave you. If things are still great between us in a year, ask me again and I'll say yes, but right now is not the time for that." Caroline explained and he sighed then kissed her again.

"Really? You'd say yes?" He smirked and she chuckled at him being an ass.

"Don't let it go to your head, Salvatore." Caroline teased and he cracked a grin. "But you'll have to do better than this." She joked and he laughed.

"I will." He winked and she smiled.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Damon and Caroline made their way downstairs and found Grace sitting on the couch with Dante next to her, he had his arm around her shoulders, she was hugged into his side and both of them looked pleased as could be.<p>

"Morning." Caroline smiled.

"Good morning." Grace smiled back.

"Come here, Nipper." Damon smirked and Grace giggled then hopped to her feet and hugged him and he hugged her back tightly. "It's so good to see you." He said fondly.

"And you, Filly." She smiled teasingly and both Damon and Dante laughed at the name.

"You are so not allowed to call me that anymore." Damon smirked.

"Why 'Filly'?" Caroline queried full of curiosity as to why she would call Damon a baby female horse.

"We do _not_ need to get into that." Damon interjected and Dante and Grace shook with laughter.

"I think we do." Caroline smirked and they chuckled.

"My dear brother was quite the ladies' man in his late teens and gained the nickname Damon 'Stallion' Salvatore in town, however I knew him from childhood when he was very shy and sweet, so I began to call him 'Filly' to tease him." Grace explained with amusement and Caroline and Dante laughed while Damon rolled his eyes.

"Aww, so you were a man whore even in the 1800s, huh?" Caroline quipped and they laughed loudly.

"I'm not a man whore." Damon defended amused.

"Are so." Caroline winked and he chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I like you very much, Caroline. I hope Filly does not 'screw it up' as they say." Grace smiled cheekily and Dante and Caroline snickered.

"Well, Nipper, I asked her to marry me and she said no." Damon admitted amused surprising Dante and Grace while Caroline shot him a look.

"You only did that because you were being a diva." Caroline pointed out and Grace and Dante shook with laughter at her being blunt.

"Did not." Damon defended.

"Anyway, what are your plans? Are you staying here?" Caroline questioned Dante and Grace ignoring Damon.

"No, Grace isn't ready to be around Stefan." Dante denied and they nodded in understanding.

"Will you both come with us?" Grace requested shyly.

"Well, I don't see Dante being able to teach you about fashion and stuff, so I'm in." Caroline smiled and Dante snickered while Damon looked at Caroline in surprise.

"Really? You'd go?" Damon questioned.

"Obviously. I was going to go to Africa, remember?" Caroline reminded him and he chuckled.

"But we're still going on vacation first, right?" Damon tested and she shot him an amused look.

"Now is this an _actual _vacation or do you just want to stay in a hotel room for a week?" Caroline examined and they chortled loudly.

"I'm easy." Damon smirked.

"Yeah, everyone knows that, sweetie." Caroline winked and they guffawed at her quick response.

* * *

><p>A short while later, Dante went to get blood bags from the basement just as Stefan came into the house and he froze at the sight of Grace sitting on the couch next to Damon.<p>

"Hello, Stefan." Grace greeted hesitantly and his face was one of _intense _guilt.

"I am eternally sorry, Gracie." Stefan apologised and she nodded.

"I know and I forgive you." Grace replied surprising Damon and Caroline. "But… it will be a very long time until I can be in your company, Stefan. You were my little brother all of my life. I trusted you." She said softly and tears broke free down his face and he nodded then turned on his heel and left the house in a blink. Damon put his arm over Grace's shoulders and she leaned into him.

"You alright?" Dante asked concerned as he reappeared only a second later holding four blood bags.

"Yes, my darling, I am alright." Grace agreed. "I feel terrible though. His face was so devastated." She said guiltily.

"You're joking, right? He killed you. He can feel like shit forever for that." Damon pointed out.

"He has suffered a great deal of guilt for almost a century and a half, Damon." Grace countered. "He was not himself when he killed me."

"I don't care. You're our sister." Damon reminded her and she sighed. "_Anyway_. Where are we meeting up after my vacation with Barbie?" He inquired.

"Where do you want to go, Gray?" Dante smiled.

"I would like to go somewhere fun where there are lots of things to do." Grace smiled.

"What about California? There's shopping, beaches, nightlife, Hollywood and all sorts of things to do." Caroline suggested.

"That sounds wonderful." Grace agreed.

"Ugh. Surfers." Damon snarked.

"Also means bikinis." Caroline pointed out and Damon visibly perked up.

"Might not be _that_ bad." Damon conceded and they laughed loudly at him being such a slut. "Where are we going on vacation, Miss Forbes?"

"Are you going to let me leave the room?" Caroline teased and he smirked.

"Perhaps." He joked and they snickered.

"Well, if we're moving to California, what about somewhere on that side of the country?" Caroline suggested.

"Vegas?" Damon smirked and she deadpanned.

"No." She denied and he chuckled.

"San Francisco?" He tested.

"Perfect." Caroline agreed.

"Great, well we'll head out and find somewhere to live." Dante remarked.

* * *

><p>Dante and Grace left that evening to fly to California. Dante had done a quick search online and already had five property viewings for the next day to go look at and he was sure that he'd pick one of them, so he suggested that Caroline box up her stuff in the meantime and he'd text her the address of where to send her stuff. Caroline packed up her room as did Damon and the following evening, Dante called with an address for them. The next morning, Caroline and Damon went to the post office and had their boxes shipped to Malibu in California then they got ready to go to San Francisco.<p>

Caroline spent some time with Bonnie and her mother and promised to keep in touch with them regularly. Damon spent a little time with Stefan – who was miserable at the thought of Damon leaving – but, he knew that it would be a long time before he could live out his eternal life with his brothers, so he accepted it and Damon promised to keep in touch.

The next day, three days after Dante and Grace left, Damon and Caroline were off to San Francisco on vacation. Damon showed her the touristy things, they went to Chinatown, rode the cable cars, ate in tons of great restaurants, climbed up to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the night – Caroline thought that was amazingly romantic – they visited Alcatraz, they partied and of course, they spent a good amount of time in their hotel room too.

Any time Damon had ever been in San Francisco before, he was always alone or with Dante, being there with Caroline made him see that his life was about to head onto the most incredible journey, he loved every minute… even when she dragged him around every store in the city.

He loved it, he loved her, he was just _in love_…

* * *

><p>AN: Picture of Grace on my profile, let me know what you think :D


	12. Epilogue

I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

A/N: Sorry about the long wait! Finally the epilogue is here and I hope that you enjoy it! Thank you to all of you who took time out of your lives to read. It means a lot :)

* * *

><p>Brother<p>

Chapter 12 – Epilogue

* * *

><p>They were reluctant to leave San Francisco after their incredible week together, but they did. They headed out to Malibu, drove down Pacific Coast Highway until they got to the property – which turned out to be an enormous mansion. Damon laughed and told Caroline that Dante was a saver, he was loaded – Damon had a bit of a gambling problem, so he wasn't <em>quite <em>as loaded as his brother – and Dante clearly bought the huge house to impress Grace. Caroline thought it was sweet, Damon thought that it was hilarious. Damon grabbed their bags then they walked up to the front door and knocked.

Grace opened with a huge smile, gave them both a hug and invited them in and Caroline looked around wide-eyed. Dante turned up and hugged them both then explained that he didn't see the point in buying _two _houses, so he bought one big enough for both couples as there were two bedrooms in each wing of the house, so it was kind of split into two. Damon and Caroline were cool with that anyway – the property was beachfront, so they were hardly going to complain.

Damon and Caroline went to explore 'their' side of the house and Caroline picked the room overlooking the beach. Damon came in and asked her what did she mean by 'her' room, she said that they could sleep together every night, but they both needed their own space – Damon huffed and puffed but accepted it anyway knowing that he liked having his own room, so he took the other room.

* * *

><p>That night, Caroline and Grace were sitting on the couches out on the deck chatting with cocktails. They were laughing, getting to know each other and talking about what they were going to get up to in California. Damon and Dante watched them from inside the house with smiles plastered on their faces.<p>

"Could this be any better?" Dante grinned at his brother and Damon chuckled.

"No, Dant. I really can't see how it could." Damon agreed and Dante snickered – they both knew that they were total saps.

* * *

><p>"For God's sake, Damon! Will you stop being such a troglodyte?" Caroline retorted exasperated just as Dante and Grace walked into the house. It was two weeks after they got to California and Dante had taken Grace out to fresh feed.<p>

"I'm _not _being a troglodyte! I just think that this is ridiculous!" Damon snapped.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Dante interjected seeing them in a glaring match.

"Damon's going nuts because I got a job." Caroline replied surprising the other couple.

"You don't _need _a job!" Damon fumed.

"Damon, calm down." Dante bid then turned to Caroline. "Why'd you get a job?" Dante queried curiously.

"Why do people get jobs, Dante?" Caroline asked flatly and Grace giggled at her new friend's expression.

"But _we _have plenty of money." Dante said confused.

"Ugh. Is there any point in arguing with guys born in the 1800s?" Caroline retorted and Dante and Grace snickered.

"What is the job?" Grace inquired curiously with a smile.

"Sales assistant in the MAC makeup store." Caroline replied with a grin.

"That sounds fun." Grace grinned back. "Can I do that?" She asked Caroline and both of the boys frowned.

"What?" Dante asked her in disbelief.

"Darling, I have watched the world change. The world is different now. You don't make all of my decisions for me in this time." Grace smirked at Dante who scowled at nothing in particular.

"They just expanded the store. I'm sure that they could use an extra person." Caroline advised Grace happily and Grace grinned. "Just come in with me if you want."

"Yes, that would be lovely." Grace agreed pleased and both of the boys' jaws dropped.

"Wait just a minute." Damon interjected. Caroline slung her arm over Grace's shoulders then smirked at Damon and Dante.

"Move with the times, old men." She winked and Grace giggled then the two of them were off to the kitchen to make cocktails.

"What just happened?" Dante asked confused.

* * *

><p>Damon and Dante were standing outside of the MAC store looking through the window a week later as Caroline and Grace floated around the store serving customers, showing the products and genuinely looking like they were having a great time.<p>

"I don't like this." Damon muttered.

"You think _I _do? I have plenty of money. I don't want my wife working." Dante retorted.

"I don't get it. They look like… ridiculously happy in there." Damon observed confused.

"Who knows? Let's go get drunk." Dante suggested.

"Might as well." Damon mumbled.

* * *

><p>Three weeks later, Damon and Dante came into the house just after 8pm on a Friday night to loud party music blaring. They glanced at each other confused then wandered onto the deck to find Caroline in a short strapless dress with a pink crossover sweetheart bust and multi-coloured pink sequins in wavy stripes going down the rest of the tiny dress. Grace was in a very short black halter dress also covered in black sequins that went down in a 'V' at the bust and showed off most of her back. Caroline's hair was in messy waves, she had dark makeup on her eyes and four inch gold platform sandals. Grace's hair was in spiral curls, she had black smoky eye makeup on and five inch black and silver platform sandals on her feet. They both had cocktails in their hands and were giggling and swaying to the music.<p>

Damon and Dante's jaws were dropped because they looked _so _hot. Though, they had no idea why the two of them were all dolled up like that. Dante was a little shocked to see Grace in such a revealing dress as he'd had to literally take her down to a busy beach just to prove that women wore bikinis in public and it was fine for her to do so too if she wanted to.

"Uh… why are you dressed like that?" Dante asked and the two girls turned to look at them with grins on their faces.

"Caroline is taking me to a nightclub!" Grace declared delightedly. "I am so excited!" She grinned.

"Just the two of you?" Damon asked sceptically.

"No, we're going with the girls from work." Caroline replied.

"It's called a 'girls' night out'." Grace smiled.

"So, we're not invited?" Dante tested.

"Nope." Caroline denied then took a gulp of her cocktail.

"Where?" Damon queried.

"We are going to Santa Monica then Beverley Hills." Grace answered and it was ridiculously obvious that she was _seriously _excited about it.

"Will you two stop worrying so much? If anyone's out of line, we'll eat them." Caroline winked and Grace laughed.

"Yes, we will." Grace agreed amused and the boys chuckled because Grace was obviously kind of drunk already then they heard a car horn honk. "Oh, that must be Tristan!" Grace grinned then she hurried over to Dante and Caroline went up to Damon and the girls kissed their boys. "See you later, darling! I love you." She said with a grin.

"Don't wait up." Caroline winked at Damon then Grace grabbed her hand and the two of them were hurrying out of the house together.

"Who the hell is Tristan?" Damon asked his brother confused.

"I have no idea. They said that it was a girls' night." Dante deadpanned in return.

"You do realise that they totally went and got lives away from us, right?" Damon tested and Dante rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it really sad that we're totally miserable without them?" Dante muttered and Damon chuckled.

"_So _sad." Damon agreed. "Maybe we should go out too." Damon suggested.

"What if they need us?" Dante pointed out and Damon sighed.

"Fine, we'll stay in." Damon muttered.

* * *

><p>Dante and Damon waited up for them and just after 5am they heard laughter and the fumbling of keys outside the door. Moments later they practically fell in the door in fits of giggles and they were holding each other up. The girls looked <em>wasted<em>.

"Aww, they waited up." Caroline grinned. "They're so cute." She teased and Grace giggled.

"Oh, darling! That was so much fun… though, I lost my shoe." Grace slurred and both Damon and Dante laughed because they could see that she was just wearing _one_ and she was _so _drunk.

"What have you done to my wife, Goldie?" Dante chuckled and Caroline grinned.

"Now, Dante-bear, you were the one who told me that Grace is fun and wild… what makes you think that this is _my _influence?" Caroline smirked drunkenly and they chuckled.

"Fair point." Dante accepted amused.

"Damon, baby?" Caroline pouted.

"What?" Damon snickered because she was totally bombed.

"Carry me to bed." Caroline requested holding her arms up and Damon and Dante were shaking with laughter.

"Yes, darling, me too." Grace said and Damon and Dante only laughed louder then stood up and went over to their drunken girls and picked them up. "Goodnight, Rally." Grace waved.

"Night, Racy." Caroline waved back as the boys carried them in opposite directions – _ridiculously _amused, especially at the new drunken nicknames.

* * *

><p>They'd been in California together for three months and had been sitting eating a meal on the deck overlooking the ocean. Afterwards, they sat around with drinks and all of them were loving their life in California. Dante turned to Grace who was sitting next to him.<p>

"Gray?" He asked and she smiled at him.

"Yes, darling?" Grace asked then Dante pulled out a box from his pocket and opened it.

"Will you marry me again?" Dante smiled and she cracked a grin as did Caroline who was sitting against Damon's side under his arm.

"We can do that?" Grace asked surprised and they chuckled.

"Mmhmm." Dante nodded amused.

"Then yes, of course." Grace grinned and he smirked then kissed her. He took the ring out of the box then slid it onto her finger as she no longer had her wedding band or engagement ring from the first time that they married. She looked at her hand and saw that the centre stone was a large emerald cut diamond. There were two large emerald cut blue sapphires accenting and all three of the large stones were surrounded by a halo of small diamonds on a platinum band. "That is beautiful, Dante." She observed amazed and he chuckled.

"Let's see." Caroline requested excitedly and Grace showed her hand. "That's gorgeous, Dante-bear." Caroline grinned and he winked at her.

"Are weddings still performed in church?" Grace queried.

"Weddings can be anything you want now." Dante replied. "It doesn't have to be a church." He said and she smiled.

"Then can we do it there?" Grace pointed to the beach in front of their house and he chuckled.

"If that's what you want. We can do it anywhere." Dante responded then kissed her cheek.

* * *

><p>Six weeks later, Caroline had just finished doing Grace's makeup. Grace was wearing a simple halter white gown with beading around the neckline and under the bust. Her long hair was in waves, Caroline had pinned beautiful lilac flowers in Grace's hair and she looked beautiful. Caroline was wearing a lilac V-neck flowy asymmetrical dress and she also had lilac flowers in her curly blonde hair.<p>

The sun was just setting and Caroline hurried out onto the deck and saw Dante and Damon in their suits standing on the sand with the officiant. The boys smiled at the sight of her because she looked gorgeous.

"Ready, Dante-bear?" Caroline checked and he smiled and nodded then she hurried back into the house to get Grace.

"Can't believe you're getting married _twice _before me." Damon muttered and Dante chuckled.

"You haven't asked her." Dante pointed out with a smirk.

"Did so." Damon mumbled.

"She thought that you were just emotional with the drama." Dante countered and Damon rolled his eyes.

"That wasn't it." Damon pushed.

"Then ask her again." Dante replied like it was ridiculously obvious. "You got her a ring on the same day that I got Gray's… what are you waiting for?" Dante tested.

"She'll say _no_." Damon muttered and Dante laughed a little.

"Are we seriously going to get into another punching match about you being a coward?" Dante teased and Damon shot him a look.

"The only reason that I'm letting that slide is because a bloody nose will ruin that suit." Damon retorted and Dante laughed at Damon being ridiculous.

* * *

><p>Grace linked her arm through Caroline's then they walked out of the house together onto the deck and down the sand. Dante smiled softly at the sight of her because she looked so beautiful and he was melting just like he did the first time he married her. She reached him and took his hand then Caroline stood to the side just like Damon did. The ceremony was short and simple, intimate and romantic.<p>

Damon caught Caroline's eye during it and he smirked then motioned in-between them and wiggled his eyebrows indicating that they'd be next and she bit her lip so that she wouldn't laugh at him being totally crazy. Once Dante and Grace were officially married again, they went up to the deck and Damon pushed the button on the CD player then he and Caroline went into the house to give Dante and Grace some privacy to dance together. They went into the kitchen and Caroline checked on the food that she'd been making for their celebration.

"That was so romantic." Caroline smiled at Damon then she checked the oven. "They said their vows just as the sun was setting and…" She trailed off with a grin and he chuckled at her sappy expression.

"You liked the beach wedding, huh?" Damon tested and she chuckled.

"Yeah, it was beautiful." Caroline agreed.

"Am I really going to have to wait a whole _year_?" Damon blurted and she shot him an amused look.

"For what?" Caroline examined and he snickered and rolled his eyes.

"You know what." Damon countered.

"No, I don't." Caroline smirked.

"I want to marry you." Damon stated softly and her stomach fluttered at how he said it.

"What's your hurry?" Caroline replied just as gently and he stepped up to her and tucked a curl behind her ear.

"Because as much as you tell me to move with the times, I _did _grow up in the 1800s. It's what you do when you find the girl you want to spend the rest of forever with. You marry her. I don't want to wait. I love you so much. I always will." Damon answered and she felt like she was melting a little.

"Then ask." Caroline replied and he blinked in surprise.

"Really?" Damon blurted and she giggled.

"You've complained like four times saying that you want to marry me, but you've never actually _asked_. The day you first mentioned it, that wasn't a question." Caroline reminded him and he looked surprised because he realised then that it was true.

"Don't go anywhere." Damon directed then disappeared in a blink and Caroline suddenly felt a little nervous. He reappeared like thirty seconds later with a box in his hand and she was really surprised that he'd _actually _gotten her a ring. She noticed that he looked a little nervous too. Damon took her left hand in his then stared into her eyes. "Will you marry me?" He asked and her stomach was full of butterflies and she took a long breath so that she wouldn't get all emotional.

"Obviously." Caroline replied and he cracked a smile.

"Really?" He asked and she giggled then kissed him.

"Yes." She nodded then he grinned, opened the box and showed her.

"That alright?" He questioned and she looked at the ring. It was a large cushion cut diamond surrounded by a double halo of smaller diamonds with split shank shoulders also set with diamonds and she thought that it was incredibly stunning.

"I love it." Caroline replied with a smile and he looked pleased then he took it out of the box and slid it onto her finger then crashed his lips to hers and she giggled, put her arms around his neck and kissed him back deeply. She couldn't believe that they were _engaged_.

* * *

><p>They went out onto the deck hand in hand and the other couple shot them amused looks.<p>

"Something that you want to tell us?" Dante teased and they chuckled at the fact that Dante and Grace had obviously heard.

"She said yes." Damon winked and they grinned.

* * *

><p>Caroline wanted a long engagement. Damon wasn't thrilled about that but she'd said yes, so he was trying not to push or stress about it. They'd been in California for eight months when one day, Caroline and Grace came home from work and Damon and Dante's jaws dropped at what they had in their arms.<p>

"What the hell is that?" Damon asked in disbelief.

"Damon, sweetheart, I am certain that even you have seen kittens before." Caroline answered and Grace giggled.

"Yes, Caroline, but why are they _here_?" Damon asked confused as they both had one.

"We were told of a lady that had kittens but was unable to keep them, so she was going to have to put them to sleep. We couldn't let her do that." Grace responded.

"We're not keeping them." Dante stated.

"Yes. We are." Grace refuted and Caroline and Damon chuckled.

"That's you told, bro." Damon teased.

"Of all of the pets you could have brought in here, they had to be _cats_." Dante muttered.

"Yes, well, get used to them, because they're here to stay." Caroline proclaimed.

"This is Sapphire." Grace said happily motioning to the dark grey fluffy kitten with big blue eyes sitting in her arms.

"And this is Iris." Caroline added sweetly while petting the tiny Himalayan kitten she had in her arms.

"They aren't cat names." Damon remarked.

"Says who?" Caroline examined.

Damon didn't have an answer to that, so that's how they ended up with two cats.

* * *

><p>About a month later, Caroline and Grace had been at a bar for a couple of drinks with colleagues. They got in the door and spotted Damon and Dante sitting out on the deck – each with one of the kittens in their laps, both absently petting them as they talked and drank.<p>

"So much for them not liking the cats." Caroline whispered and Grace snickered.

"They talk so much crap." Grace agreed and Caroline laughed in surprise as she'd never heard Grace swear before.

* * *

><p>They'd been in California for just over ten months when Dante decided to take Grace away for a week in Tokyo. Damon had driven them to the airport while Caroline was at work. She was working a late shift that evening and when she got home, the house was dark, which she thought was kind of peculiar. She opened the front door and stepped inside then noticed candles dotted around the living room and she smiled. She followed the candles out to the deck area and she found Damon sitting on the outdoor couch waiting for her with a drink for himself and a cocktail for her.<p>

"What's all this?" Caroline smiled and he smirked up at her and lifted his arm, indicating that he wanted her to sit with him. She noticed that both of the growing kittens were curled up on his other side and it made her chuckle while she sat down.

"I just thought that since we have the house to ourselves for a week, it would be nice to spend some time with you." Damon replied while pulling her closer and placing a kiss on her temple and she smiled.

"I like the sound of that." Caroline agreed happily.

"That… and today, it's been a year since our first date." Damon disclosed and she cracked a grin then kissed him softly on the lips.

"I know. I didn't think that you remembered." Caroline admitted.

"Of course I do." He smiled.

"Are you happy, Damon?" Caroline asked softly while staring into his eyes and he gave her a smile.

"More than ever." He assured. "Are you?"

"Well, put it this way… I love your brother, I love your sister… but _you _are the only one that I couldn't live without." She admitted and he grinned then kissed her deeply.

"Technically, you can't live without Grace." Damon smirked and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you always have to be so 'Damon' about everything? I was trying to say something nice." She muttered and he laughed.

"I love you." He said then kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, now give me my drink." She directed and he chuckled then handed her the drink he'd made. "Can I ask you something?" She queried and he nodded. "Remember last year the night we had a fight before you went to get Creed?" She asked and he nodded again. "What were you going to show me that night?" She queried and he chuckled in surprise that he'd forgotten about it.

"We were talking about what we dream about." He reminded her. "So, I was going to enter your dream while you were asleep and show you what I dream about." He replied and she grinned.

"Aww." She smiled. "Too bad you were a total ass that night. That would have been sweet." She replied and he snickered then kissed her.

"I can do it tonight if you want?" He smirked and she smiled.

"Still dream about me, do you?" She teased and he chuckled.

"Every single night." He nodded and she visibly melted.

"Aww, I love you." She admired adoringly then kissed him and his stomach fluttered.

"I love you too." He replied.

* * *

><p>That night Damon showed her his dreams and she centred in all of them. They'd come a long way from their first meeting – fighting, arguing, darkness, blood, reluctant allies, friendship, forgiveness, uncertainty, fondness, caring, understanding, affection, feelings, falling then a deeper love than they could have ever imagined – but they both knew while they cuddled in bed that they were in it with each other forever, no matter what that meant…<p>

* * *

><p>The End (Or the beginning... depends how you look at it.)<p> 


End file.
